Like table manners, you must learn email etiquette, too. If we’re not too careful, emails can take up the better part of our workdays. A study found that executives claimed that nearly 2o percent of the hours spent emailing was a sheer waste of their time. So, let’s preserve some of our precious work hours, shall we?
Make your emails more efficient with these six email etiquette tips:
1. Watch your CCs. Your colleagues only need to be copied on emails that require their response. In addition, avoid the “reply all” button because it is likely that all recipients do not need to reply or see your response.
2. Be brief. Before sending an email, reread it and ask yourself this: “Am I getting my point across in the most concise way possible?” Longer emails take longer to digest and will likely lose the attention of your reader. Try to keep your emails to two paragraphs or less.
3. Make your point early. To go along with the previous point, be brief and summarize your main points earlier in the email rather than later. Don’t waste time by adding too much detail in the beginning of the email; those can follow the main points if necessary.
Send less. Practical, yet true, sending less emails will cut down on the amount of wasted time during the workday. Emails will not always require your response. Your office might consider having a no-internal email day to decrease emails as well.
Focus on the subject line. Craft a subject line that will immediately clue your co-workers in on the content. Try helpful phrases like “meeting rescheduled” or “today’s phone conference.”
Be professional. Always double- and triple-check your spelling and grammar before sending off an email. It’s helpful to read emails aloud, and your co-workers will appreciate the effort you made to perfect the content and readability.
