Ninety-five percent of us check work email outside of office hours. More than three-quarters of us text while driving and check email in the bathroom. About 15 percent of us even check emails during funerals.
These figures, from a new Osterman Research study, show the extent to which electronic communication is dominating the workplace. When your primary modes of communications are electronic, here are 10 tips to ensure you're being understood as well as if you were face-to-face.
- Don't stutter with the subject line. Don't send out emails with the subject line "re:re:re:re:re:re: meeting." Make your subjects lines short and specific; often you don't even need to add an email message, (e.g., when your subject line says: "Response requested: Can you finish report by Friday?")
- First things first. "Too often people only read what they see in the email window and ignore that there might be more," says Nancy Dodd, a writer and editor of Graziadio Business Report. "If they scan the email and the important information is at the end, it may not be captured in their quick scan. How often have you heard, ‘You didn't say that!' when you did—buried three lengthy paragraphs later."
- Use a good signature line. It's frustrating when you want to phone someone who just sent you an email, but their contact information isn't immediately at hand. Set up your email with a signature line that includes your phone, cell phone, fax, and website.
- Answer quickly, but not too fast. Studies indicate that many email messages aren't responded to quickly or at all. You should reply quickly, but not until you're ready, especially if it's an emotional or tricky topic. Also, the difference between hitting "reply" or "reply all" can sometimes have dramatic business and political consequences.
- Be sensitive with instant messages. IM is ideal for providing quick information about project status or meeting times, but be careful with confidential or sensitive information. Also, get right to the point—it's not a medium for chitchat.
- Separate business and social contacts. You don't want to accidentally include a friend on a business correspondence.
- Be short. An email is not the place to warm up for your Great American Novel. Keep your messages short and separated by bullet points if possible. At the same time, don't save space with abbreviations. In text messages people will accept abbreviations like u or cu, but they look sloppy in a business email.
- Be really short with mobile devices. When you receive an email with a lot of abbreviated words or "Sent from my BlackBerry," you know your response is going to a mobile device—make your response short and sweet, because the recipient doesn't have a lot of display screen.
