E mail has become the preferred method of communication in today's world. In some companies it's so bad, that people who sit in cubicles across from one another communicate via e mail rather than by conversation. Teenagers seem to prefer text messaging to talking on the phone -- amazing.
Recently, one of my coaching clients showed me an e mail string that she had with her assistant. The assistant sits right outside of her office door. It started with an e mail from her to the assistant. She had tripped and broken her foot a few days prior. She was in some discomfort and didn't want to go to the cafeteria for lunch. She e mailed her assistant asking her if she would go to the cafeteria and get her a salad. The assistant e mailed back, saying she didn't want to. This resulted in a long e mail string that went progressively down hill. Both parties wrote some things that they wised they hadn't.
If my client had asked the assistant into her office, explained that she was hurting and asked her to do her a favor by going to the cafeteria, the tense situation probably would never have come up. My client thought that her assistant was being unreasonable to not honor this one time request. The assistant thought my client was asking her to perform a task that is not part of her duties. Had they discussed this in person, both sides could have explained themselves better and the ill will that developed probably would have been avoided.
The point to all this is use e mail wisely. Don't use it when a face to face or telephone conversation is more apporpriate...
Having said all this, here are some tips for writing effective e mails...
Here are a few ideas for helping you communicate more effectively using e mail.
- Try to keep your e mails to one screen or less. Readers tend to scan long e mails, sometimes missing important points. Two recommendations here: edit your writing, cut out any unnecessary words and thoughts; if your information is long and complex, attach it to the e mail as a Word document.
- Use bullet points. When people read information on a computer screen, they find it easier to read, comprehend and remember if the information is broken out into bullet points rather than in paragraph form.
- Make your subject line meaningful. I've found that my subject lines are getting longer. I do this to get people's attention so they will open the e mail. Here's an example: "Meeting rescheduled" doesn't communicate very well. On the other hand, "November planning meeting rescheduled, new date November 12, same time, sam place" is better.
- If you're using your Blackberry, let people know. Most people send shorter, more terse e mails from their Blackberries. If you use one, make sure you let people know your message is coming from your Blackberry. In that way, people are less likely to perceive a terse message as being rude.
- Use spell check. It only takes a minute, and it makes you look good. On the other hand, take a second to read your e mail. Spell check doesn't catch everything. I got an e mail today where the writer used the word "finale" instead of "final". Spell check won't catch this type of error.
- Don't use emoticons. You may think that a smiley face indicates that you are being intentionally funny. Others may not. Humor does not alwyas translate well electronically.
- Avoid adding to mailbox clutter. People get tons of e mails. You can make sure yours have a better chance of being opened and read if you send only business relevant e mails.
That's it for today. Thanks for reading. I hope you found these common sense tips on e mail helpful. For more common sense career advice, log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com.
By the way, in yesterday's post, I made a tribute to Rosa Parks, who passed away this week. I mentioned that she was an individual who exemplified the "Power of One" -- one of the concepts I hold dear. In today's USA Today, there is a picture of Ms. Parks on the front page with the folllowing headline: "Rosa Parks: The Power of One". I'm glad to see the editors of USA Today are seeing eye to eye with me on this remarkable woman.
I'll see you around the web, and at Alex's Lemonade Stand.
Bud
PS What have YOU done for your career today?
Comments