Tips on Writing an Effective Email

Email is an essential part of how we communicate during our day.  Being successful can hinge greatly on how well you handle email.  People who know how to be organized at work know the less email you have to get through the better.  You can’t of course simply stop sending emails.  And you can’t ignore important ones you receive.  Instead you need to learn how to get your message to others quicker and faster.                                                                                                     

Defining the Objective:  When you send an email you should have a result in mind.  What is it you want the recipient to do when they receive your email?  If you don’t have a clear idea of what you want the recipient to do when you write your email chances are that you won’t get the effect you’re actually hoping for.  If you want to save time, get the response you both need and want, and be more productive send very clear emails.  An email written with an objective in mind will lessen the number of emails that need to be written because of confusion or incorrect responses.

The Possible Action Responses:   There are several different ways people can respond to your message.  Knowing what those outcomes are will help you with writing an effective email.  The first is your recipient may need to actually take physical action in response.  Or you may only need a written response from them.  You can also send a “Read only” email.  As the name suggests you only need this message to be read.  Finally is the “FYI”.  The receiver only needs to file this email.  Want to know how to be organized at work? Here is a tip. When you receive FYI emails have a system for filing them.  And remember your inbox is NOT a filing system.

Creating a Subject Line:  You will write your subject line AFTER you write the body of your email message.  Your recipient should be able to tell before they ever click on your email to open it what action they will be expected to take.  Your goal is to summarize your objective right in the subject line.  The above responses can be summarized in the following way, “Action Required”, “Response Required”, “FYI”, and “Read Only”.  If you don’t know what to put in the subject line how will the person you are sending the email to know how to respond to it!

Attachments:   Be certain you attach any supporting documents that will be needed.  These documents are necessary to the message receiver to complete the expected outcome.  Keep in mind when sending supporting information using hyperlinks is only appropriate in internal emails.

The List of Recipients:  Who is getting this email?  Keeping your “To” line organized will help people understand how they are suppose to react to an email.  The primary “To” line should contain the name of the person or persons who actually need to take action on the email.  In your “Cc” line you will include the names of people who are affected by this email, but don’t need to take action or even respond to it.  If you need to keep someone in the loop, but don’t want the other recipients to know put them in the “Bcc” line.  This keeps them hidden from others receiving the same email.  Be judicial, don’t copy everyone on an email because you can.  Respect people’s inbox, keep them included when necessary, but that’s all.

Email is a large part of your work day.  If you want to learn how to be organized at work you have to learn how to be organized with your email. Being more effective with your email means you have more time and energy to spend on other projects making you more productive.