If you’re like the majority of the world, you write email in your profession. A lot of email.
The average knowledge worker spends 28% of the work week reading or answering email (according to a study by the McKinsey Global Institute.) Considering the amount of time spent on email, learning to write more professional emails will have a huge impact on your work life. You’ll increase your productivity and raise your reputation with everyone who comes in contact with your email.
In many cases, your colleagues and work contacts know you most through your emails. Chances are, however, that you don’t put much attention into how you write those emails.
Imagine what others would think of you if you put as little care into your appearance as you did into your emails? Yikes!
Here are 5 ways you can polish your professional emails to be more effective. (A professional is always concerned with Quality and Respect).
1. Use a relevant email signature
An email signature let’s your recipients know your name, your position or title, the company you work for, and the best ways to get a hold of you.
If you sign off our emails with a simple “Steve”, or nothing at all, you may be getting your message across, but you’re treating email more like a text message, when an email is different.
- Emails often have several recipients, instead of just one. You may think everyone on the email knows who you are, but it turns out the new girl Ann has heard your name, but doesn’t know your position in the company, or whether your the Accountant Steve or the Engineer Steve.
- Emails are commonly shared. When your email is forwarded, those who receive it may not know who “Steve” is, or how to reach you outside of email. Knowing your title helps others understand the context of the measure.
Here’s an example of a concise but helpful email signature:
John Smith, Account Manager, Acme Corp.
jsmith@acme.com
office: 111-555-3232 mobile: 111-555-3232
This email signature makes it clear who John is, where he works, and how to get in contact with him. There’s no additional, irrelevant information (e.g. such as a quote or link to social profiles). The email address will appear as a link in many inboxes, and the phone numbers will be selectable on many mobile phones.
How to do it:
- Create an email signature with your name, title, company, phone number, and email
- Avoid images and unnecessary links or other items in your signature.
- Create multiple signatures that have more or less information based on the audience. However, all signatures should include your full name, title, and the best way to contact you. Remember that emails get forwarded, so the audience can expand without you knowing.
2. Keep the subject relevant
The design of emails mimic that of a letter or memo. Unlike memos, or letters, however, emails stick around.
The subject of an email is less like the heading of a letter, and more like the title of a book. Along with your name, your subject will be the first thing read in your emails. The subject should clearly indicate what is going to be discussed in the email itself.
Remember that the subject you use in an email is likely to have an effect beyond that first message you send. If the recipient replies, now your subject is the title of a conversation, which may go on for quite some time.
People also save and reference emails later. A clear subject line will help make it easier for you and your colleagues to find that one conversation where Larry told you how much the new contract would cost. There are few things more frustrating than digging through old emails with vague subject lines, trying to find that one piece of information you know you saw.
How to do it:
- Write subject lines that clearly indicate what is being discussed in the email.
- Make the subject specific enough to differentiate it from other emails. Write separate emails with separate subject lines if you can’t write a simple subject line that captures the main idea of your email.
- Avoid subject lines that are too brief and non-descriptive (e.g. “Hey”, “BTW”, “FYI”, or no subject line at all!)
- Avoid using the subject line to say things that should be said in the body of the email. Remember the subject may persist when someone replies to your email.
- Change the subject line of a conversation if the subject has changed. Keep the previous conversation in the email if necessary, just change the subject line before you reply.
3. Write complete thoughts in complete sentences with an active voice
The speed and convenience of email is simultaneously it’s benefit and it’s downfall. It’s great to send info to so many people with so little effort so quickly. However, it’s also easy to send an email without carefully crafting your response.
The problem? Your incomplete thoughts have not improved the situation that the email is trying to improve. Instead, you’ve made it worse by requiring all the readers to wade through your poorly written message and guess at what you meant.
Email is already a difficult communication medium, since you can’t use context, facial expressions, and common ground to understand what’s being said. Don’t make it worse by ignoring the rules of language.
How to do it:
- Keep your sentences short.
- Use an active voice (e.g. “John created the document” instead of “The document was created.”). Make sure, where possible, that your sentences have an agent. Instead of writing, “The document was sent.” or “It’s being worked on,” identify the person or group (agent) responsible… “Jane sent the document” or “The creative team is working on it.” This way you avoid any ambiguity as to who is acting and who is responsible.
- Be careful with pronouns (e.g. they, we). You may know who you’re referring to, but chances are your readers won’t. Instead of they, say the name of the group (e.g. “the Creative Team” or “Ogilvy”). Instead of we, be specific. (e.g. I will create it. The account management team will send it. Acme will be responsible.)
4. Be specific, avoid ambiguity
Take the time to be specific about the who, what, when, where, why and how of your emails.
It’s easy to bang out an email like it’s a text message, skipping over important details like the problem that needs to be solved, the context of the situation, the involved parties, or who has the responsibility to do the next thing that will move whatever you’re discussing forward.
How to do it:
- Make it clear why you’re sending email, and include all the relevant details that will help the recipient make sense of your email and accomplish what they need to accomplish.
- If you’re replying to an email discussion, copy and paste important information in your new message to resurface those details.
- Use acronyms and group nouns (e.g. he, she, us, the group, the team, they) sparingly. Consider replacing acronyms with the proper names of the people involved.
5. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem
I just about lose my mind when I receive forwarded email that is the latest in a long discussion, and the sender has added me or copied me and simply written “FYI” or “Thoughts?” at the top. You may as well dump a bunch of newspaper clippings on my desk and ask me “thoughts?”
If you’re sending an email, carefully consider why. What are you trying to change? What do you want the recipient to do or know? Make sure your purpose is clear, don’t assume your colleagues will know what you want.
If you’re replying to an email, are you helping to make progress? Are you adding to the conversation? Don’t waste your colleagues’ time by sending several irrelevant thoughts that do nothing to bring everyone closer to a solution.
How to do it:
- Think about your email long enough to verify that you’re moving the process forward. If you go to write an email and there is more you can do to make progress before sending the email, do that first, the reconsider the email.
- If you’re replying to an email, clarify whether you’ve done what was expected, what needs to be done next, and by whom.
- Keep an email conversation focuses on one item at a time. If you need to discuss other topics, start a new email with an appropriate subject.
Bonus: Don’t write an email when a phone call or in-person conversation is best
Sometimes it’s best to get on the phone or meet in person. Topics that require a conversation should be discussed, not bounced back and forth through email.
It may seem efficient to send off a few quick emails to get a conversation started. But the delay in response and the lack of the ability to discuss the issue back and forth quickly makes the email method inefficient.
Some of you may send an email instead of picking up the phone because you know that what you have to say is not something the recipient is going to like hearing. Don’t delay the bad news, and don’t try to hide it by discussing other issues, just make the call and spend your time working on the solution, not extending the problem.