More Efficient Emails

June 23, 2011

by marcus

After being back from vacation (it was a fantastic trip to Ireland, see here my pictures), I cam back to the office finding hundreds of email in my Inbox. Thanks to the 2 minute rule, I was able to work through all of them on my first day, dealing with those that I could do within 2 minutes, and scheduling all that I assumed will take more than 2 minutes to resolve and to respond. With this, I consider my first day back as very successful.

This week now, I have received a newsletter from Productivity501 about writing emails more efficiently. Please find there those little tips:

When you write an email, do your best to reduce the number of back and forth messages. If it is something you can’t adequately explain in a message, consider using the phone or meeting in person. Skill in writing email is the same as any type of writing. Your ability to define what information you want to convey and then compose text that successfully puts that information in the mind of the reader is what determines your level of email writing skill.
Here are some tips that will help you write more effective, efficient emails:
Write from the reader’s standpoint - Make sure you pay attention to the knowledge and experience level of your reader. Define unfamiliar acronyms and use their language.
Include necessary background information – I will often write a short email asking a question and then at the bottom add additional background or clarifying information. For example, if I’m writing to someone who is new in their position, I may include a bit of background history explaining the current state of affairs. By putting it after my signature, they can continue reading if they have questions, but it does not make my message overly long for people who are already familiar with everything that is going on.
Anticipate questions - As you compose your email, keep asking yourself “what questions will this statement likely prompt from the reader?” Sometimes this may lead you to add another sentence that will clarify your meaning. Sometimes it may prompt you to add an attachment of related information. In some situations, it might even make sense to put a FAQ (frequently asked questions) at the end of your message.
Keep messages short – Long messages tend to get ignored. Try to keep your message short. If it needs to be longer, be sure the first paragraph gives a good summary. I’ve found that writing a one or two paragraph message, my signature, and then the bulk of supporting data (after my signature) helps increase the chance that they will read the first part of my message.
I anticipate that some people will look at this and say, “This is crazy. If I tried to do this, it would take forever to write a message.” First, be smart about this. Not every email requires the same level of detail. Second, consider how much longer it will take to try to clarify your position in subsequent messages. Communicating in a way that produces fewer questions and less confusion to your reader means fewer interruptions for both of you in the future. It is easy to underestimate how much time it saves to do things right in the first place.

I hope find those tips useful.