You can think of e-mail as a very intimate form of communication. The screen containing the e-mail is just inches from your reader's eyes. The reader is usually alone at the computer and, in some work situations, quite isolated from other workers. For many hours, e-mail might be the only contact a person has with coworkers. As a result, readers often analyze every negative word and every offhand remark far beyond the intention of the writer.
You need to develop good writing skills in order to write and reply to e-mail effectively and efficiently. Today, we'll talk about how to limit content in an e-mail. In future blogs, we'll look at Using an Acceptable Tone, Writing Effective Subject Lines, Formatting E-mails to Improve Reader Understanding, and Developing E-mail Etiquette.
Overview
Keep most of the e-mails you send short and to the point. If you can express a message in a few lines, write an e-mail. If the message is longer and more complex, create a Word document, apply appropriate formatting to aid reader understanding, and then attach the document to the e-mail.
Write an e-mail to relay short or everyday, routine messages or as a transmittal for documents that merit close consideration, such as proposals, reports, and memos. You can then send these documents by attaching them to a transmittal e-mail.
E-Mail Sequencing Example
Try to include all the information the reader needs to respond in one e-mail. Avoid exchanges such as the following:
Message 1:
Hi Tom,
Do you have the Sales Tax Refund form? I have the information.
Thanks!
Message 2:
Hi Joseph,
I don't know if I have the form. What should I look for? If I find it, do you need me to send it to you?
Message 3:
Hi Tom,
It's a pink form. I just need to know that you have the form and then I will tell you what to put on each line number.
Message 4:
Hi Joseph
I'll look for the pink form at home and then call you Friday.
Message 5:
Hi Tom
OK. Talk to you then.
What a colossal waste of time! If both Tom and Joseph are slow typists, then at least fifteen minutes was used to complete the above exchange—not to mention the toll on Tom and Joseph's concentration. Each time you stop work and open an e-mail, you lose your focus. And if your e-mail client is a bit on the slow side, you waste more time just staring blankly at the screen, waiting for the e-mail text to appear.
Don't waste your reader's time! Make sure that your e-mail message is worth the trouble it takes to open and read it. Here's how you could reduce the above exchange to just two e-mails:
Message 1:
Hi Tom,
Please let me know if you have the Sales Tax Refund form. It's a pink form which you have probably filed with your tax documents.
If you have the form, please send it to me and I will enter the required information and submit it to the tax department on your behalf. Thanks!
Joseph Martin
Accounting Assistant
Bedwell & Associates
1803 West 9th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V7H 1A5
(604) 555-1225
Message 2:
Hi Joseph,
Yes, I have the form. I'll bring it by your office later today (probably around 2 pm).
Thanks for reminding me!
Tom Adams
Personnel Director
Bedwell & Associates
1803 West 9th Avenue
Vancouver, BC V7H 1A5
(604) 555-1225
Notice how Joseph includes all the information that Tom needs in order to reply efficiently. Tom knows the name of the form, its color, and where he's likely to find it. All he needs to do is look in his files and then reply to Joseph. The entire exchange probably takes less then ten minutes.
Notice also how both men include their full contact information in a signature block following the text of the e-mail. We'll discuss the importance of including a signature block on all your business e-mails in a later blog.
Recommended Sources
Improve your writing skills with some great hands-on practice at Written Power Online.
Check out Carol's books on business writing and technology for Course Technology.
