I love emails …said no one.
Fewer the better. Fewest even better. None would be ideal but impossible.
Succinctness and brevity counts.
Complete sentences not required.
The subject should tell the recipient the purpose of your mail:
Action: Please do this exact thing (sign a form. Go away! Follow up…etc). There should be no room for ambiguity or open to interpretation.“Action: Approve XYZ budget by DDMMMYYYY”
Advise: Provide guidance, or ideally… of the three options, I recommend A. Do you agree?
“Advise: Qualification criteria for new hires”
Info: You should know about this but no action required.
“Info: Sick as dog. Taking today off”
Before every email, ask yourself (until it becomes second nature):
- Why? Purpose of my mail?
- Call to action or help? For info and record?
- Do I need to send this mail?
- Is it appropriate to email?
- Face to face conversation
- Better to pick up the phone or walk over?
- Do I need to send this mail?
- Who should be on the mail?
- Be mindful of the fields: To and CC
- Do they really need to be on this mail?
- Should I send it to them separately to protect them from the wrath of ‘reply all’ hell
- Do I need to Reply All?
- No (99.999% of the time)
- Clean it up. Remove people if required.
- Is my email easy to read?
- Does it provide relevant information?
- Is it structured? Formatted? Structured? Bullet-ed?
- Does it make sense?
If you think someone may take it the wrong way, they will. Instead, go and talk to them face to face. If not possible, do a video call. Or, have a phone conversation. Or maybe it doesn’t need to be discussed at all. Email may not be necessary?
If you have time to waste, do just that. Waste your own. Don’t waste mine or someone else’s.
Go and drink a glass of water. Have a pee break. Stretch. Do whatever you want but please don’t send me an email.
Emails should be used to document key discussion points and actions. Not for philosophical discussions, rants, or raves. If you need an outlet, go to the gym. Write. Yell. Just don’t send me an email.
If the body of your email is more than 250 words, it’s too long. Email should read like an Executive Summary. Nothing else.
Oh, and emails should be treated with utmost care. It can, and will, be used against you. Don’t take it personally. This usually happens by mistake. Other times, it is intended to destroy you. Emails lack context. Emails lack emotions. Emotions lack the back drop.
Email with caution. Look left and right before sending the hit button.