Email is widely used as a form of inexpensive yet highly effective business communication tool. Printouts of emails are rarely taken and soft copies are used because archiving and retrieving emails is easily. The reason of its popularity is the ease of access, which everyone in an organization can use.
Emails are read by professionals who, depending on their work, may get anything between 20 to 200 emails a day. They neither want to engage in a back-and-forth conversation, nor have the time to ask for details, multiple times. They just want to understand the content of the email, read out the instructions, process the information, get the task done and empty the “unread” section of the inbox.
What to do when writing and email
- Plan your message.
- Use the subject line to grab the reader’s attention.
- Keep your message short and clear
- Do not type your entire message in lower case.
- Proofread your message before sending it and assume accountability.
- Take a few minutes to cool down before sending any email while angry.
- Do not type your message in capitals. Capitals are considered to be SHOUTING.
- Greet and close in a way appropriate for your audience.
- Always greet by using the name as it is warmer and more engaging e.g.,
- Good afternoon Tracy, Delightful day Martha.
- Use a concise, accurate subject line.
- Introduce yourself if you haven’t yet met.
- Respect the difference between “To” and “CC” (Carbon Copy) or “BCC” (Blind Carbon Copy
- Don’t abuse reply all.
- Keep it to one email (thread) per subject.
- Don’t use all caps or exclamation points to make a point
- Be extra wary of your tone, never send an emotional email.
- Always re-read emails before sending them.
- Avoid negativity in emails and also avoid offensiveness.
- Don’t forward chain letters.
- Reply within 1 business day (if you can).
- You have a spell checker—make use of it!
- Provide a warning if and when sending a large attachment.
- Don’t send more than 3 attachments without warning.
- Compress and/or resize attachments when you can.
- Use verdana font size 11 or Lucida sans on emails.
- Email signatures- these are a must and you must use the provided ZB template with assistance from Group IT or your brand manager