In business, as in our personal lives, communication is key to understanding.
Today, email communication is often preferred to mail, and it is sometimes difficult to get in touch by telephone.
The Challenge
Busy businesspeople know the challenges an overflowing inbox presents. Here are guidelines – email etiquette if you will – to streamline that effort. These tips will not only save time, but they will also increase successful communication between you and management, employees, vendors, and anyone else on your email list.
Finding the Time
Think about your day and decide when you can devote at least 30 minutes to reading your daily email. Perhaps it is first thing in the morning with your morning coffee. Close your office door and let people know that this is the time when you cannot be disturbed. You may even want to schedule this inbox time when others in your company haven’t arrived yet.
Conversely, some people find it best to wait until the end of the day when staff and employees have gone home. To avoid missing an urgent email that needed a quick answer, you can also do an interrupted time at midday.
You’ll find that once you develop this practice, the time needed will be less, as you will be starting with a clean inbox each day. Read on to see more ways to streamline.
Create a System
Sort your email using separate folders or tags within your email browser. Set up one for in-house emails from and to staff and employees, vendors, personal contacts, or any category that makes sense for you. Then, you can read emails in the most important categories first.
Scan your SPAM folder to see if there are any emails in there that need to be read. Be sure to whitelist contacts whose emails should not be going to SPAM.
Read and Respond
Once you have read an email, you should do the following:
- Respond immediately
- Mark the email to respond later in the day once you have gathered necessary information
- Delete the email or
- Save the email so you have a record of it and your response.
Don’t procrastinate.
It is tempting to put off your response, because you are in a time crunch, but you’ll need to reply at some point. Do it right away and it is done! Many times, a one-word answer or confirmation is all that is necessary: Thank you! Done! Got it! These phrases tell the email sender that you received the email. This also eliminates a repeat message from the sender to learn if you have received the email in the first place.
If you need to gather information, be sure to make a note of that and reply to the email before the end of the day or the next day, if possible. If you need more time to reply, send a response that simply says: I’ll get back to you as soon as I can with an answer. Responding promptly shows the recipients you value their time.
Autoreply. Use an autoreply when you are away. Set up your email autoresponder before you leave for vacation or even if you are going to be away for a day. This lets the sender know you are unable to respond to emails in your absence or directs them to someone else in your office who might help them.
Delete and Unsubscribe
Unsubscribing to emails takes more time than simply deleting, but you’ll eliminate repeat emails that you have no intention of opening. Take on several at a time, rather than trying to unsubscribe to all unwanted emails at once.
Composing Your Outgoing Emails
Use a professional address. Your company email should include your name and your company name as well in the sender field.
Use a direct subject line. It should be brief (7 words or less), descriptive, and action oriented. Let your recipients know what the email involves which will help them decide whether to open the email right away or put it aside.
Write your email BEFORE entering the recipient’s name. Keep the TO field blank until you are ready to send just in case you accidentally send prematurely.
Keep emails brief and to the point. Unless your email is meant to be informative (like this one) on a particular subject, try to keep the text brief. A long-winded email is often put aside for a time when the reader can deal with it. If you need to address multiple issues, consider sending separate emails.
Email threads should be maintained properly. Don’t reply to an email with content that addresses a completely different topic. Email “threads” should be maintained so that all relevant information on that one topic is in one place. A new topic should have a new email.
Describe email attachments. If you have an attachment to share, explain to the recipient what it is and how you’d like them to interact with it—by reading, commenting, signing, approving. Sending an attachment without a description could mean that it isn’t acknowledged or opened.
Proofread, proofread. Review your email before entering the recipient’s name and check for grammatical or accuracy errors, as well as for typos or spelling mistakes.
Don’t send anything you would not want to be read aloud. If you are upset, your emotions can influence your writing. It may be tempting to share a juicy piece of gossip, but it is good to remember that emails are never truly private. Anything sent in an email can be shared, intercepted, screenshot, downloaded, or printed.
Wait 24 hours. Once you send an email, give the recipient time to respond. The appropriate period to wait often depends on factors such as your relationship with the recipient and the message’s urgency. Generally, it is good to wait 24 hours before following up.
Emails and Texts
Many people have moved on from emails to texts to send (and receive) messages. You may want to ask your contacts how they would prefer to receive messages, and which format would get a quicker response.
Some prefer a simple text that says: Please check your inbox for an important message/attachment on (name) topic from me.
Email communication can be tricky and not always smooth and responsive. Implementing these guidelines for both receiving and sending emails will help move the process along and make communication in the cyber-age more efficient and less stressful.
If you would like to discuss how ENoSIS Graphic Solutions can help you market and grow your business, call Noel Choquette at 978-505-2783.