Not the most exciting of subjects but everyone is involved in communication whether its sorting out lunch with a friend through to organising massive engineering projects. Confusion and misinformation is always an ongoing risk resulting from bad communication which results in individuals either not getting on board with a topic or going off and doing needless work. Today I really rallied against the endless stream of emails I had been cc’d into. I realised that I am probably as guilty as others in doing this so I decided I should figure out some guidelines for tightening up my e-mail etiquette
My guidelines;
1)If you are replying delete generic titles and write a title which is more specific about what is contained in the e-mail. (Try not to use Re: if you have to state Reply )
2)Spend time making and crafting a really relevant reply which is as targeted as possible.
3)If possible delete the train wreck of replied e-mails – most of them are not read by anyone and quite often have all sorts of tags, addresses and generic images which are totally irrelevant.
4)Be economical in cc e-mails if you want to introduce others into a project – write a specific introduction e-mail for that individual explaining everything don’t just copy them into a massive e-mail and expect them to go back through and figure out what is going on.
5)If you have questions that you need answered really start with the question and explain the context.
6)Use pictures – They are useful and e-mails really support pictures very very well now.
7)If you have simple calculations from excel spreadsheets contain them as images in the e-mail attachments are annoying and take time to open up.
8)If you are working with people on a project you really need to have met the people. If they are in your building why not go and introduce yourself?
9)Hey use the phone its there it costs nothing again more important if you don’t know the person.
10)Don’t just write with questions – if you have an outcome that you think is important or you’ve received some positive feedback after project completion let the others on the project know about it.
11)Generally aim to be positive and supportive
12)If you make commitments try to remember them and stick to them.