Personal Advancement
Effective e-mailThe Creative Group offers the following tips for crafting effective e-mail messages: |
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 [ 2005-10-26 ] |
- Keep it mega-lyte. Provide links to photos, PowerPoint presentations and other large files, or offer to send them on request. Many professionals have limited in-box capacity, and bulky attachments can be hard to open or consume needed space.
- Don't be too quick with your "trigger finger." Before replying to all, consider whether each person on the list will benefit from your response and remove those who will not. Conversely, if someone is copied on a message that you receive, be sure to include that person on your response if he or she needs the information.
- Be specific. An informative subject line lets the recipient know the topic of the communication and whether action is needed. It also makes the message easy to file. For example, instead of using "Today's meeting," try, "Pls. review: today's branding strategy agenda."
- Unravel the mystery. Rather than forwarding a lengthy e-mail exchange to colleagues as an "FYI," forcing them to scroll to understand why they're being copied, give a brief synopsis of the situation. This allows them to choose whether or not to review the details.
- Avoid "crying wolf." Mark messages high-priority only if they are truly urgent.
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