Email has for many become the curse of today’s paperless office. They pile up faster than you can process them. The fact that many emails are impossible to understand, or completely pointless, doesn’t help.
This post lists five principles that will help you write more effective emails that benefit both you and the reader.
Paired with effective filtering and inbox management you stand a much better chance of persevering on the email battlefield.
Concise but Courteous
As people’s inboxes grow ever bigger, being concise and to the point becomes increasingly important to help people manage the mail flood.
An email that is too short might come across as rude and arrogant. You want to be brief and to the point, but a minimal level of courtesy is assumed and also makes conversations easier to follow.
Review the email before you hit the send button. Check spelling. Make sure you understand what you’re trying to say yourself. If it is an important email with many recipients, consider reading it out loud.
Here’s an example of a concise and courteous email:
John Doe <johndoe@devoteddeveloper.com>to me
Jane,
Could you please send me the latest draft of the SoW?
Thanks,
John
Separation of Subjects
Only address one item in an email. If you have more things to cover, consider sending separate emails.
While this increases the total amount of emails, each one becomes easier to follow and process. Potentially, it also reduces the number of people included in topic threads.
Assist the Addressee
Make it as easy as possible for the reader to understand what she needs to do.
Start an informative email “FYI” (For Your Information) or “NO ACTION REQUIRED”. In a similar manner, state actions or requests clearly.
Make use of paragraphs and formatting such as highlighting.
Here’s an example:
John Doe <johndoe@devoteddeveloper.com>to me
(NO ACTION REQUIRED)
I have talked to Jane about the plan, and she had some comments that we will discuss at the project meeting next week. Please note that the meeting tomorrow is cancelled.
BR
John
Carbon Copy Correctness
When sending an email to multiple recipients, make proper use of the CC (Carbon Copy) field.
Don’t put people that are main recipients in the CC field and vice versa. For example, don’t add people to the CC field if you delegate an action point to them.
As a general rule, treat the CC field as a FYI field.
Always start emails with the addressee’s name. Not only is it courteous and makes the email more personal: it also helps when you CC people. It is easy to overlook that you have only been copied. Stating the primary recipient clearly upfront helps recipients process the email appropriately.
Recipient Restraint
Show restraint when adding people to the recipient list.
Sometimes it is better to forward an email with “FYI” instead of copying people on the original email. For example when you predict a long conversation with someone abusing “reply to all” and you only want to inform a third party of the initial email content.
If people are added mid-conversation it might be helpful to state it in the email somehow. For example writing “+John” if John is added to the thread. Here’s an example of that:
John Doe <johndoe@devoteddeveloper.com>to me, Aaron
Jane,
+Aaron (attended the last meeting)
Good to hear you make progress. Please share the document with both Aaron and me.
Thanks,
John
We have started working on a draft for the SoW. We will share it with you when a first draft is ready.
BR
Jane
That’s all for now. Add a comment below if you have your own tips on how to write effect emails!
Make sure to check out the post about Zero Inbox and Gmail as well.
I agree, usually put in TO the people that needs to take action or respond. CC list are for those who might be interested
ReplyDeleteI agree totally with recipient restraint, so that there are no confusions and people know who should respond.
ReplyDeleteMay I add punctuations really matter. The use of commas and colons really makes a difference.
ReplyDeleteVery nice information, thanks.
ReplyDeleteThe best email to be written is application for a job. It should be the most outstanding as your resume. Besides, if you don't know how to do it, just apply to http://topresumewriting.blogspot.com/ and get the tips they provide to create it.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis is an art and the only person stays in the office or in the class who knows that art that how to provide .. to the reader that he lets himself to read the full mail.
ReplyDeleteIn today's rapidly growing IT world, almost every programmer or coder claims to be an app developer. Edknt Media
ReplyDeleteMost hiring managers aren't going to read your whole resume, so they want to know what you bring to the table right off the bat. Assignment Help
ReplyDeleteWiFi Router Security Tips Generally, the home-based internet router renders a huge number of security features to all the users. There are several other features that you might haven’t used until now. Based on the age of your router, It delivers more or less security-related features to all the users.
ReplyDeleteThe inquiry I have for you who have fallen for the draw of the write a book in a week or multi month is what do you lose, what have you lost when you attempt to crush yourself into that tight little box of "quick writing" your all consuming purpose, your motivated thought for a novel?children book and author
ReplyDeleteThe offshore Software development trend has been around for a while now and many IT as well as non-IT companies all over the world are engaged in outsourcing their software development needs to offshore software development centers due to the various benefits provided by the outsourcing process. dbdesigner.net
ReplyDeleteLike it or not, emails are very important when you sending your resume . We must learn a proven and easy way of emailing a resume. If you are interested, you can find out these 5 mistakes to avoid in your job search.
ReplyDeleteBasic Quran Reading
ReplyDeleteHow To Learn Quran Free
Nice blog..!!! you have posted here and Very useful post. I always like your post and I want to you add more like this.
ReplyDeleteUnix Training in Chennai
Unix Training Fees in Chennai
Advanced Excel Training in Chennai
Oracle DBA Training in Chennai
Tableau Training in Chennai
Oracle Training in Chennai
Unix Training in T Nagar
Soft Skills Training in Chennai
JMeter Training in Chennai
Appium Training in Chennai
Thanks for sharing more information...It motivate more...
ReplyDeleteBest Aviation Academy in Chennai
Air Hostess Academy in Chennai
Airline Courses in Chennai
Ground Staff Training in Chennai
Airport Management Courses in Bangalore
Airport Management Courses in Chennai
Air Hostess Academy in Chennai
Air Hostess Course in Mumbai
Ground staff training in Bangalore
Best Aviation Academy in Chennai
Good Blog!!! The way you have conveyed your blog is more impressive...
ReplyDeleteJAVA Training in Chennai
Best JAVA Training institute in Chennai
best java course in chennai
JAVA J2EE Training in Chennai
Best JAVA Training in Chennai
java training in OMR
JAVA Training in Annanagar
Big data training in chennai
Selenium Training in Chennai
Android Training in Chennai
I appreciate you for this blog. More informative, thanks for sharing with us.
ReplyDeleteDOT NET Training in anna nagar
DOT NET Training in Chennai
DOT NET Training in OMR
RPA Training in T Nagar
selenium training in OMR
DOT NET Training in T nagar
AWS Training in Tnagar
PHP Training in Anna Nagar
You can meet new people, get to know them, and maybe find that one true love. Projectsdeal Review
ReplyDelete