Over the past few years, email has become more and more important as the main method of communication. It can be a very productive tool to communicate to large groups of people, especially when they are in different locations, countries or time zones. You can easily share files and instructions. Some use their inbox as a to-do list, use email as an online archive and keep a paper trail for important information and documents.
It has also become a burden of sorts. The introduction of the smart phone and with that, email on your phone where-ever and whenever, certainly increased that. It turns out that email is an easier means to communicate than walking over or picking up the phone. Seen by some as ‘with this email I push stuff off my desk’, some encounter a constant flood of email. And that affects productivity, focus and communication.
While the attention in media has gone, a few notable companies made organization-wide changes to change expectations and view to email. This has become important again since the COVID-outbreak, as many employees are working from home and work schedules are less aligned. To share information, email is now even more important.
But in order to do that, communicating effectively, your approach to email should meet a number of criteria. I list the seven most important in this post. But after so many years using email, I know there’s a lot more to improve on: let me know if you have additions in the comments below.
1. Help Yourself and Your Recipients
Like I said – email is a common tool, but it is also over-used. Before you write an email, think what you are trying to achieve. Based on that, you can see if an email is the best way. While not everybody is a fan of meetings (“this could have been an email”, is an often-heard comment after a time-consuming, ineffective meeting), some emails should have been meetings.
If you want to inform a group of people, such as an update or status report, an email may be a good tool – especially when your update is relatively short. Do you expect a discussion or debate? Is your update lengthy? That may be the cue for a meeting or presentation. Discussions over email aren’t effective and difficult to manage. A meeting, where people take notes that are relevant to them, may be the quickest solution. You can always send the presentation slides ‘for information’.
2. Know your audience
Before you write an email, think of who will receive and read it. Adapt your tone to that. Be careful with a writing style that is too colloquial, starting at the greeting. Not everybody will respond well to a “hey” or “y’all”. If you’re working in an international company, the way you write is even more important. In the middle and the far east establishing a relationship is crucial before you dive into business. In northern European countries that is the other way around. Leave the chit-chat and cut right to the chase.
When you think of your audience, also keep in mind the people, departments and institutions beyond your immediate address list that may read your email later in time. Do not think that email is confidential, and write in such a way you won’t have to worry in case your email is challenged by leadership, HR, lawyers or even courts. The internet doesn’t forget, and don’t make it too easy.
Even though emails, especially when they bounce back quickly between you and the recipients, can take a more informal tone, read twice before you hit ‘send’. It is a good practice to have a good greeting in your email, especially when you are writing the first email or first response. Have a good sign-off: a nice, meaningful and genuine greeting, your phone number and email address will go a long way.
3. Addressing the Recipients
Tying in with the previous comment, think of who you are sending the email or the reply to. The automatic ‘reply all’ is a major distraction for people receiving countless notifications of new messages. When people are waiting for emails it may help, but in many cases, the discussions going on in email in the background won’t immediately add value. Make sure that everybody on the list needs to receive the email, and delete those that don’t.
On that note: if you are deleting recipients from your list, be clear and transparent about that, as well. You don’t want to leave the impression that those that don’t receive the email are not important to the process, the product or even, at all. Next to being open, it helps to be consistent in this approach, and be clear to people sending you emails.
The bcc or blind carbon copy field has a purpose in an email program, but limit use to the absolute minimum. Sending messages using bcc for certain recipients can be seen as deceitful and that impression you may want to avoid. You may get called out if a bcc recipient doesn’t realize they were on the blind copy list and replies to the email chain. It is cleaner to forward your email to those you think should know but kept out of the direct email loop.
If you send out messages to larger groups and you want to protect the identity the list of recipients, the bcc field is a good and accepted option.
4. Draft a Good Subject Line
Your future you will thank you if you use a clear subject line. As a matter of fact, the present recipient of your email will thank you now.
A clear email subject line will help you archive and retrieve email easier further down the line. If you’re in a commercial role, a clear and well-crafted subject line drives the ‘open rates’ of your messages. The more clear, the better.
5. Sign-Off Block
A simple sign-off block is a smart idea. In many email programs you can include a standard sign-off block so you won’t have to type it for each new message. There are different views on what constitutes a good sign-off, but clear and relatively formal is the way to go. Some say that “kind regards” or “sincerely” are less optimal choices, but they are safe.
It helps to have your phone number, extension and email address in your sign-off block. If your email is ever printed, whoever has it can easily contact you. Sometimes you see “sent by phone brand – forgive typos”: just delete this, and double-check your email. Make a good impression and delete errors before you send.
The standard text about confidentiality, incorrect emails and other lengthy standard texts are likely not enforceable, annoying for the recipient and a waste of paper. There may be instances where specific disclaimers are helpful and necessary, so talk to your lawyer to assess it makes sense. Otherwise, you may consider leaving it out.
6. Some Final Thoughts
This won’t apply if you have a company address that’s distributed to you, but for other cases, use a professional email address. Addresses that show your past time hobbies, nicknames and vices, your friends may appreciate, but employers, clients or other professional recipients of your email may immediately get the wrong impression of you. Use an email that displays your name so whoever receives your message, knows who sends it.
Limit the use of exclamation points in your emails. They may come across as shouty, immature or emotional. Use a simple point, to bring your point across. The same goes for caps lock: that never works. If you want to emphasize something, make it bold, but even then, use that sparingly.
Be careful using humor in your emails, and avoid sarcasm altogether. A major part of a joke is the delivery, and an email message is flat. There is a big chance that your joke won’t come across. You risk offending the recipient, and remember, others may read your emails even if you don’t intend them to, initially or later on. Sarcasm can be outright dangerous.
Proofread every message that you send, especially when you’re on your phone. A colleague of mine would take the time to slowly read every email to capture mistakes, typos and incorrect sentences. It takes time but you can be sure you catch practically all mistakes in your email. When you’re sending important messages to important people and your reputation is at stake, it is well worth the time.
7. Draft and Implement an Email Policy
Take the time to draft and implement a concise but complete email policy. You can set the boundaries of what is allowed and what is not allowed, what happens to email and how to manage the expectations around confidentiality and work-life balance.
Soaring + Company can help you draft an effective, inclusive and modern email and communication policy. If you want to know more, join the discussion on LinkedIn, give us a call or send us an email at info@soaringandcompany.com: how appropriate! Don’t worry about the subject line: we filled it for you already.
