10 steps to successful emailing
Give your contact details
Always include your name and alternative contact information in your message. This allows people to call or fax you information more easily. In many systems, particularly where email passes through gateways, your signature may be the only identification method.
Finally, try to keep your signature short – maximum seven lines. Unnecessarily long signatures waste bandwidth and can be annoying.
Threads are a series of responses to an original message. Using threads keeps the original message and reply together and makes it easier for the participants to follow the chain of information that has been exchanged.
When replying to messages, do a genuine reply, which will re-use the existing subject line. Do not send a new message with a new subject line, even if it reads something like ‘Reply to important question re missing insurance’.
In some companies, over half the employees do not use Windows PCs. Trying to send them Word documents or PowerPoint presentations in the hope they will be impressed is unwise, to say the least. Use plain, unadorned text (no ‘richness’, no HTML, no nothing), when nothing else is called for.
Instead of spending time and energy on producing brilliant colour schemes and award-winning layout, write some real quality content instead. That is what it’s all about, after all – there’s supposed to be a message in there.
Check attachments
Don’t assume people will know what you’re talking about or are replying to, just because you include one or more previous emails on the subject.
It may be very clear to you, but maintaining the conversational tone and smooth flow of email does require a bit of effort. Email bridges the gap between traditional written correspondence and oral communication, and therefore has its own set of rules and requirements, but it is definitely worth the investment to make proper use of it.
previous | 1 | 2 | 3 | next
printer friendly
send to a friend
Created: 19/02/2004 Updated: 23/01/2006
Delicious
Digg
reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Horoscopes| Message Boards | Quizzes | Newsletters | Join
iVillage Ltd is a UK company registered in England & Wales (3837269) at 80-110 New Oxford Street, London WC1 1HB
