2010 New Year Resolutions for Email Users

I’m going to concentrate on user-friendly email etiquette techniques in this blog post.

At this time of year everyone dreads going back after the holidays - because they know there will be a zillion emails to wade through. Again.

Often it feels like you need another holiday right away, just to get over the hassle of sorting out your burgeoning inbox.

Email should be quick and easy – an instantaneous way of communicating all over the globe. However, email overload is a common complaint amongst workers and the benefits of this quick, cheap communication method are, unfortunately, undermined.

Knowing a few simple email etiquette rules can make a big difference to how well you communicate your ideas.

How to Write Effective Emails

Remember that emails are not analysed the same way as a printed letter when the recipient opens it. More often than not, the receiver skims through quickly to get a sense of the message without reading it word for word.

Many rules that apply to writing user-friendly content for the web apply to emails.

Break messages into clearly explained points
Stick to 1 point per paragraph
Use plenty of line breaks and sufficient line-spacing
If there are several points, use an ordered list (1., 2., 3., etc)

Always check an email carefully before sending it. Ideally wait a while before you proofread your own work so that you are less likely to skip over your own mistakes, or get someone else to you help out if the email is particularly important.

If you’re writing a complicated, lengthy message, write it in a word processer so that it’s easier to refine and double-check at the end using the inbuilt grammar checker and spellchecker. Once you’re happy with what you’ve written, just cut and paste it into your email tool ready to send.

Forward with Care

When you forward an email make sure the recipient has all the information they need. Deleting the email trail below your message can sometimes lead to the context being lost, making it difficult for the recipient to understand what’s going on.

Equally, make sure you’re not forwarding on sensitive or inappropriate information by mistake. A quick skim through the supporting information lower down in the email, before forwarding to colleagues, clients or suppliers can save a lot of embarrassment and problems later.

How To Use Email Effectively

Let’s start off by looking at what can go wrong with poor email etiquette.

Bad Email Habits

Hiding behind emails instead of speaking to the person directly because of a desire to avoid an awkward conversation
“Covering your back” - writing “I told you this was going to happen” emails in advance designed to absolve the sender from any responsibility creates loads of dull and irrelevant emails
Copying in innocent bystanders – conversations can change over time and become less relevant to certain people on the distribution list, so it is a good idea to remove some of people who are not directly involved in the discussion over time
Copying in senior staff – blind-copying your seniors, or sending them strongly worded emails out of the blue is not helpful
Avoiding answering questions by answering another, different, question – delay tactics like this are not popular…

Good Email Habits

Publicly praise people and teams who have done a good job – giving out compliments for jobs well done is highly valued by the recipient(s)
Keep everyone up to speed who needs to be. Don’t miss out people who need to be involved in the discussion.
Send timely notification that you have received something – not everything sent comes with a courier tracking code, so a quick email confirmation instantly puts the sender at ease.
Streamline sending electronic files. Sharing information on memory sticks, CD and DVDs can cause many problems, such as virus threats and data security risks.

Email (n)etiquette

Although email has evolved from rules governing both the written and the spoken word, it does have its own unique set of guidelines. It’s easy to get swept up in the moment and send an email without checking it carefully – and once it is sent, realistically, the damage is done. Emails are often as permanent as a fax or posted mail item.

Good and Bad Email Etiquette

Dos

Do include all relevant information
If the person receiving the email needs any additional “history” or “supporting information” make sure you include that when responding
Do trim the recipient list
Do remove people from the list of recipients if the context has changed they don’t need to receive the message anymore
Do check for simple mistakes
Run your spellchecker over your emails before sending and check you’re communicating clearly
Do have descriptive subject lines
“Meeting” is not as good as “Monthly Marketing Meeting Invite”
Do modify the subject line over time if the context changes
If the nature of the email changes over time, amend the subject line to reflect the new theme, e.g. “Monthly Marketing Meeting – Cancelled”
Do let new senders know their email reached you
If it’s the first time someone has emailed you, send them a confirmation so that they know their message made it successfully

Don’ts

Don’t use ALL CAPITALS
It’s the online equivent of shouting and will irritate the receipient
Don’t mark everything “Important” or”Urgent”
There’s a good chance the recipient has their own views on their priorities . If you abuse this email feature, when something really is genuinely important, you will have burnt that bridge.
Don’t forward on jokes to groups
As well as looking like an office joker for all the wrong reasons, you’re running the risk of offending someone, or just adding to their email overload! Pick selected recipents, or ditch forwarding jokes altogether. Share them by the water cooler instead.
Don’t use a chunky signature file or “sig”
By all means include a couple of lines of useful contact information in plain text format, but don’t shoehorn a big graphic onto the end of all your emails – the novelty quickly wears off for the receipient and starts to undermine your credibility.

These email etiquette tips will help make your email communications more effective within your organisation and for your suppliers and customers. Here’s to 2010 being the year of reduced email overload!

Have you got any email tips you’d like to share? Please share it with a comment…

2010 New Year Resolutions for Email Users