Everyone has their own set of email rules, but here are some common ones you will find repeated often enough. I've been doing more reading lately on social media and have chuckled when I come across email do's and don'ts. Probably because I have felt the same.
They are not listed in order of importance.
1. Please do not reply to all. The original sender wanted her or his thoughts to go out to a group. If they do not ask for group wide feedback, don't assume the group wants to hear your response.
2. Subject line. Make it count. This is the hook, what grabs people. With the enormous amount of email, get our attention, but not dishonestly. No bait and switch.
3. Keep the email short. I mean short. Email IS NOT the place for lengthy discourse. Reading on the Internet follows patterns of F-reading and that applies to emails. See this post on how people read documents on computer screens.
4. Tell us why you sent the email and what you need in terms of a response. Even if no response is needed. If the email is just an FYI, say so. If it is "must" read let them know.
5. Fast response. Respond to emails with 24 hours. Some say this is an "old rule" and now it is within 12 hours. Even it if is to say: received... or no thanks... or stop sending me emails. This does two things. It keeps the sender from contacting you again with another email. It helps you keep your in-box down to a minimum. And on that one...
6. Keep a small In-Box. How do you do that. The "two opens" rule is one way. If you opened it once to see what is there and did nothing, the second time you open it requires an action. Reply or delete it from your in-box.
7. Develop a working Folder system. Don't store emails in your In-Box for future reference. Productivity studies find that a cluttered In-Box is like having hundreds (in some cases many, many hundreds) of letters, files, projects sitting on your desk. If you need to save something, archive it.
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If you have some personal "email rules" you have developed, let me know what they are.
Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com
