E-Mail Rules to Live By

By John Heaney on May 6, 2010 at 10:59 am
Communications, Featured, Management

Despite the proliferation of assorted social media platforms and text messaging, the majority of our business communications still takes place using email.

Email has the potential to dominate our time and attention if managed improperly, so here are a few email rules to live by that will help make all our digital lives a little easier to handle:

Summarize the reason for your email in the subject line.
Yesterday I received a message whose subject consisted of a single word: cards. I had no idea what the sender was referring to. Was I supposed to buy cards? Play cards? Design cards? What type of cards? The possibilities were endless. Turns out the sender wanted me to print a document of theirs on my color laser printer. Rather than making me open the mail to discern its purpose and importance, the sender should have written in their subject line something like: need the attached printed in color by Tuesday. In an instant I would have known their intent and been able to prioritize their request, but instead I was compelled to open their message, read it, process it and then move on. Don’t waste your reader’s time. Do the courteous thing and summarize your message in your subject.
Make sure your complete name appears in the From: line
Steve sent me a message yesterday. Steve who, you ask? I have no idea, since Steve didn’t include his last name in his email identifier. Like many of you, I know a lot of Steves. There are 15 Steves in my contact database. So, which Steve was this message from? I had to open the message to read his signature which included his last name. As important as you are, if your name isn’t Cher or Bono, be considerate and make sure that when you set up your email preferences that you include your entire name as your identifier so that your email recipients will know it’s you.
Create a Signature that appears automatically in every message.
OK, even if I know it’s you and I know exactly how to get in touch with you, what do you think happens if I forward your message to someone else? Without your name, email address and phone number printed within your message, they have absolutely no way to contact you. Every email program provides the ability to create an automatic signature. You can even customize the signatures for multiple email accounts. It’s easy. Learn how.
Keep emails short.
We’re all overwhelmed with email messages. There are days when I receive over 400 emails and dread the process of sifting through them all. Although most are junk mail, I still have to peruse dozens of messages to determine how to process them. Make it easy for your recipient and keep your email messages short and to the point. The best messages can be read in their entirety in the preview pane. Edit ruthlessly to keep your messages on point, conveying your purpose and the recipient’s obligations quickly.
One subject per email, only
If you’re working with someone on more than one project and need to know the status of specific tasks, it’s preferable to send the requests in separate emails rather than pile them all into a single message. By sending separate messages, the recipient can reply to each message with a brief response that encapsulates entirely the status of that project and your emails can generate a thread of conversation dealing solely with one topic. Mixing multiple messages leads to confusion and inevitable oversights. Make it easier on both of you and deal with just one thing per message.
Reply immediately
Get in the habit of replying to your messages as soon as you read them. Even if it’s simply to acknowledge that you received their message and will be getting back to them when you have more detail or have had a chance to think about the content of their message. They’ll rest easier knowing you received the message and you’ll have their message in your to-do queue.
Don’t hit Reply All unless it’s really, really necessary
We have enough messages in our Inbox without adding unnecessary responses from 42 people invited to next week’s webinar or the 12 people playing softball after work on Thursday. Reply to the Sender only unless it’s absolutely necessary for every participant to know your plans. And really, how often is that?
Keep mobile in mind
More than 70% of email messages are picked up on our handheld devices, not on our desktop computers. How should this shift in behavior affect your messaging? It makes it more important to keep messages brief, both in the length of your message and the size of any attachments that you include. Although you may not think twice about attaching your 5MB Powerpoint presentation to your email, your recipient will be cursing you as they wait for your entire message, complete with attachment, to download on their Blackberry or iPhone. Send attachments only when absolutely necessary.