I'm on a bit of a rant. But this is important. And I put it in the category of "Management" because as a manager, it's your job to devise and enforce communication standards in your company. Do this and it will be obnoxious at first but it will pay off.
Email is not normal communication so it needs different rules.
Rule #1 - Only one topic per email
If I have 3 different things to talk to you about I'll send you 3 different emails. One for each topic. If I ramble and think as I write, I need to edit before I send and make each one a different topic.
Not doing this is LAZY and disrespectful of your time and attention.
Rule #2 - Subject Line MUST be useful
Both rules work together. But rule number 2 means:
- Every email must have a subject
- The subject must say what the topic is
- The subject should say what I want you to do with this
Some examples:
Monday's meeting notes - for your files
Monday's meeting notes - please comment by Friday
Question about Monday's meeting
You see what I did there? Just by reading the subject you know what to do with the email.
Even better if you can communicate your whole thought in just the subject line. Remember when twitter was only 140 characters? Think like that and see how powerful your subject line can be.
There are other rules
There are lots of other rules for good emails, but those two are the most important. If you're a real glutton for punishment, here are two more.
Never ask for a meeting or to reschedule a meeting without including a date AND time that works for you. Maybe include more than one and let the recipient choose. But never say "Can we reschedule to next week?"
Use EOF - Those three letters stand for END OF FILE and if your message is short enough to put entirely in the subject line, by ending with EOF I know I don't have to open the email. Example: Monday's meeting has moved to 2PM - EOF This is an advance technique and required enough people to understand what it means to be useful.
</End of Rant>
OK one more thing. I noticed I made most of the examples about meetings - email is the least efficient way to schedule meetings. Use Doodle.com for a group or YouCanBook.me to let one other person book with you (it's better than Calendly).
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