Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Effective Email

Effective Email - "How to communicate powerfully by email"
As with all written communications, your emails should be clear and concise. Sentences should be kept short and to the point.

This starts with the email’s subject line. Use the subject line to inform the receiver of EXACTLY what the email is about. Keep in mind, the subject line should offer a short summary of the email and allows for just a few words. Because everyone gets emails they do not want (SPAM, etc.), appropriate use of the subject line increases the chances your email will be read and not discarded into the deleted email file without so much as a glance.

Because emails have the date and time they were sent, it is not necessary to include this information in your email correspondences. However, the writing used in the email should liken that used is other business writings. The email should be clear and concise, with the purpose of the email detailed in the very first paragraph.

The body of the email should contain all pertinent information (see writing tips in Written Communications) and should be direct and informative.

Make sure to include any call to action you desire, such as a phone call or follow-up appointment. Then, make sure you include your contact information, including your name, title, phone and fax numbers, as well as snail-mail address. If you have additional email addresses, you may want to include these, as well.

If you regularly correspond using email, make sure to clean out your email inbox at least once each day. Of course, the exception here may be on days you do not work, such as weekends and holidays.

Make sure you return emails in a timely manner. This is a simple at of courtesy and will also serve to encourage senders to return your emails in a timely manner.

Internal email should be treated as regular email, following the same rules as outlined above. However, internal email should be checked regularly throughout the working day and returned in a much quicker manner as much of these detail timely projects, immediate updates, meeting notes, etc. Nonetheless, internal emails, just like emails, should not be informal. Remember, these are written forms of communication that can be printed out and viewed by others than those originally intended for.
Tips for Effective E-mail
*Think before you write. Just because you can send information faster than ever before, it doesn’t mean that you should send it. Analyze your readers to make certain that you are sending a message that will be both clear and useful.

*Remember that you can always deny that you said it. But if you write it, you may be held accountable for many many moons. You may be surprised to find where your message may end up. (As an example of “What Not To Do” in Ellen Dowling’s Writing Strategies class?)
*Keep your message concise. Remember that the view screen in most e-mail programs shows only approximately one half of a hard-copy page. Save longer messages and formal reports for attachments. On the other hand, do not keep your message so short that the reader has no idea what you’re talking about. Include at least a summary (action or information?) in the first paragraph of your message.

*Remember that e-mail is not necessarily confidential. Some companies will retain the right to monitor employees’ messages. (Refer to #1 and #2, above.) Don’t send anything you wouldn’t be comfortable seeing published in your company’s newsletter (or your community’s newspaper).
*Don’t attempt to “discipline” your readers. It’s unprofessional to lose control in person—to do so in writing usually just makes the situation worse.

*Don’t “spam” your readers. Don’t send them unnecessary or frivolous messages. Soon, they’ll quit opening any message from you.

*DON’T TYPE IN ALL CAPS! IT LOOKS LIKE YOU’RE YELLING AT THE READERS! Remember, if you emphasize everything, you will have emphasized nothing.
*don’t type in all lower case. (unless you’re e.e. cummings.) if you violate the rules of english grammar and usage, you make it difficult for the reader to read.

*Use the “Subject” line to get the readers’ attention. Replace vague lines (“Information on XYZ Project,” or “Status Report Q1”) with better “hooks”: “Need your input on Tralfamadore Project,” or “Analysis of recent problems with the new Veeblefetzer.”
*Take the time to proofread your document before you sent it. Rub the document thru the spell checker and/or the grammer checker. Even simple tips will make you look sloppier and damage you’re professional credibility.

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