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E-mail
messages have many advantages over traditional
business letters. They are faster to write, easier
to send, less expensive, easier to file and
retrieve, and they encourage faster responses. As a
result, they are replacing business letters in many
organizations. But their frequency of use and ease
of transmittal have introduced a whole new set of
problems for business. Employees are sending
unnecessary information to disinterested people and
copying others needlessly. To save time they are
writing rapidly, using poor grammar, undecipherable
shorthand, vague subject lines (if any) and failing
to pause for as much as a quick edit before striking
the Send button. Consequently companies are being
plagued with sloppy work, poor communications and
lost time.
To stop this downward
spiral, it is imperative that everyone in the
organization learns to write effectively with the
reader in mind. Messages should be crisp, clear and
concise. The following suggestions, in the form of
an acronym spelling the word EMAIL, will provide a
guideline for improving electronic communications.
Edit
the message before you send it. The reputation of
the organization is at stake. Speediness does not
justify sloppiness. Use upper and lower case.
Punctuate properly. Double-space paragraphs.
Communicate clearly, indicating the action that you
want the reader to take. Be professional. Avoid
sexist language. Be sensitive to cultural
differences. Don’t write emotionally charged
e-mails that you might later regret. And remember
that there’s no such thing as confidential e-mail.
Don’t say anything in your message that you
wouldn’t want the whole world to see.
Make
your writing live. Let a positive attitude permeate
your message. Be brief, but neither blunt nor
boring. Avoid the passive voice, clichés, jargon,
acronyms and gobbledygook. Avoid needless modifiers,
wordy phrases, overused modifiers and long rambling
sentences. Use action verbs. Vary the length of
sentences. Separate paragraphs by double spacing.
Double space and number any points being made. And
keep the message to one screen if possible. Write to
express, not to impress.
Always
add any attachments before you address the e-mail.
Most people have forgotten to include the attachment
at one time or another. Guard against an itchy
trigger finger by writing the e-mail undressed. This
will also give you the opportunity to edit the
message before sending it. If the attachment is
large, zip it and summarize the contents in the
e-mail itself. Where possible, stay away from
attachments altogether. Cut and paste the
information into the e-mail. Viruses have made
people reluctant to open attachments.
Identify
yourself and the topic up front. Set your options so
your full name and e-mail address appear in the From
line. Use a subject line that accurately identifies
the topic of the e-mail. And put the most important
information in the first paragraph. Your objective
is to get the reader to open your e-mail, read it
and act upon it. With about 30% of e-mail being
Spam, this isn’t easy. You run the risk of having
your message deleted unopened if the header
doesn’t grab their attention. Indicate in the
subject line whether the message is urgent or a
priority, but use the word Urgent sparingly.
Limit
each e-mail to one topic only. You will have less
problem writing a descriptive subject line and the
message will be easier to file. It may also get a
faster response. If people don’t have all the
answers to your questions they usually hold back
until they do. Break up topics into separate e-mails
and give them opportunities for immediate responses.
You will also be able to pinpoint who should receive
copies. Address the e-mail to the person who should
respond, and copy everyone else.
Resist the urge to
shoot off an e-mail when a telephone call or
personal visit would be more appropriate. E-mail
should enhance, not replace personal communication.
Eighty-one percent of managers in one survey
indicated that e-mails were being sent when personal
communications would be more effective. Don’t let
the advantages of e-mail be offset by the many
abuses that are possible.
Reprinted
with permission Copyright, 2001,
Harold Taylor Time Consultants Inc.
Harold Taylor, president of Harold Taylor Time
Consultants Inc., regularly conducts public seminars
on the effective utilization of time. He can be
reached at 1-800-361-8463. His website
is www.taylorontime.com. |
