Comments on: 5 Simple Rules for Better Email Business Communication

By: TRX Suspension Canada

TRX Suspension Canada — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 20:42:50 +0000

Thanks for the great information. Helps alot

By: 5 Simple Rules for Better Email Business Communication « Nancy Ellen Dodd

5 Simple Rules for Better Email Business Communication « Nancy Ellen Dodd — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 03:27:23 +0000

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By: Seo

Seo — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 10:47:36 +0000

Excellent rules. Thank you for the extra help on emails. :)

By: Randi Jenkins

Randi Jenkins — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 04:00:57 +0000

To avoid writing too much, making spelling or grammatical errors –or choosing words that can convey meanings different than those you intended — write the message in a Word document first. Unless it’s very brief, if you need to organize your thoughts, do it in a place where you can’t accidentally send a disorganized e-mail or one that can be misinterpreted.

When you write your message in Word, you can save the message as a draft and come back to it later to send. But once you hit, “Send” to the recipient of the e-mail, you’ve put something in writing that could come back to haunt you.

This is the same premise as “sleeping” on an “Dear John” or the like. Unless you’re in a terrible time crunch to reply to someone, cool your heels. Take out every “very” and “extremely” and “much” in your message and you’ll probably be okay.

I, obviously, am not — not at almost midnight. Anything I send at this hour is a risk. Come to think of it, I should have written this comment in Word. I have rambled, haven’t I?

Write in Word, and copy the message into the body of the e-mail. Take no chances.

By: Sandeep Gupta

Sandeep Gupta — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:02:57 +0000

Some other tips/best practices

To: vs. CC:
———–
Send email messages to people that require attention or response. CC’s should only be used for others that don’t require a repsonse or are just being notified of what is going on. This helps people who filter their emails based on the To: field.

Subject line changes
——————–
I agree that if an email stream has morphed into something completely different, then it may be worthwhile to change the subject line, however I would be cautious. When searching or organizing emails, many people use the subject line to find related emails and a change in subject can make it very difficult to find what you are looking for.

By: Harikumar Rajasekhar

Harikumar Rajasekhar — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:39:35 +0000

Well said. However I do have to say that using appropriate visuals & crisp messaging have worked wonders for us. Responses have gone up. Since we work with lotus notes, we had to improvise to come up with a fool proof solution for images to be displayed properly.

By: Nagesh Ramamurthy

Nagesh Ramamurthy — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 08:53:20 +0000

Very relevant in the context of travel restrictions in many businesses around the world. I have dozens of things that can be added to your excellent tips and the other helpful tips from fellow readers-
1. Always include contact details in the mail so that people can call you
2. Restrict the size of the mail to less than 3 paragraphs of 4 lines each when you want to convey important messages
3. As a leader, try and get the opinion of close colleagues for an important message to the employees. You will be surprised at the number of changes you may want to do
4. Avoid attachments for important mails….most CEOs and leaders use smartphones to respond to emails, and these machines do not always open attachments
5. Avoid background graphics and fancy fonts and colors in your mail, as they will not show up properly in some mail clients
Lastly, and this is the most important point, avoid writing when you can call or speak in person!

By: Eileen M. Baldwin

Eileen M. Baldwin — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:01:13 +0000

Great comments. Other tips I have found helpful when writing email:
Write it first in Notepad or Word if the email requires careful thought. Also, you may not want to type in recipient’s name on the email until you have completed your message; in some cases one can hit “Send” too quickly or by mistake!

By: Nina John

Nina John — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 07:30:44 +0000

I totally agree with all that has been said, and would like to add one point-avoid using SMS language in your mails! I hate mails which say ‘u’, or worse, ‘c u’, in the middle of otherwise formal mails!

In today’s multi-national, multi-cultural organizations, your emails are a direst reflection of your work :showcase it effectively.

By: Paula Cassin

Paula Cassin — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:09:46 +0000

Number 3 is key! Action items and important info first.

I’d also add another point: use the Subject line wisely. Tell the reader what you expect them to do with the message and then sum up the contents in a few words.

Examples:
Vote Please: Next Month’s Webinar Topic Choices
FYI: Interesting Internal Comms Trends
Response Requested: Please edit article and send back by Friday
Question: How do I raise a P.O?

So often people hit ‘Reply’ and never change the subject line, even when the actual content has morphed into something very different. I’ve missed action items this way after being CC’d on 5 or 6 emails, all with the same Subject line!