The Functions of Email
Just about everyone knows that e-mail or email is short for electronic mail, a system for sending and receiving electronic messages between computers over some sort of network. It also refers to the messages sent over such a system.
When people first started sending email, it was a very casual medium. Some people insisted that standard rules of spelling and grammar need not apply. If you're in that camp, you might want to think again, especially if you have or aspire to a professional career.
Bear in mind that whatever you send can be broadcast by your recipient to countless others with the push of a button. Do you really want to be careless knowing this is the case? Probably not.
So, make your messages correct, concise, to the point and tidy. Don't put anything you wouldn't want your grandmother to read in an email, especially at work. Also it's good to avoid sending complex information (who wants to get red eyes trying to read and absorb a mass of detailed information on screen?), sensitive topics as well as private or confidential information via e-mail. Jokes are often good to avoid. Stories that might be funny to you and the person you're sending them to might be offensive to someone they get passed on to down the line.
Now, as far as being efficient, and having co-workers happy to open your e-mails, here are some tips: In your subject line, try to come up with a line that gets their attention and is to the point, much like a magazine header or newspaper headline. Also, in the body of the e-mail put the most important information in the first paragraph. Leave all the supporting details and interesting tangential issues to the paragraphs that follow. And as with any sort of writing, us the active rather than the passive voice most of the time. What does this mean? Say, "The dog ate the food" instead of "The food was eaten by the dog." If you use too much passive voice, your readers will fall asleep at their desks.
And one more tip. Limit the amount of time you spend dealing with e-mail during the day. Avoid those little windows that pop up whenever you've got a new message. That way you'll manage your e-mail rather than have it manage you.
Oh, and those smiley face icons? Drag them to the trash right away.
When people first started sending email, it was a very casual medium. Some people insisted that standard rules of spelling and grammar need not apply. If you're in that camp, you might want to think again, especially if you have or aspire to a professional career.
Bear in mind that whatever you send can be broadcast by your recipient to countless others with the push of a button. Do you really want to be careless knowing this is the case? Probably not.
So, make your messages correct, concise, to the point and tidy. Don't put anything you wouldn't want your grandmother to read in an email, especially at work. Also it's good to avoid sending complex information (who wants to get red eyes trying to read and absorb a mass of detailed information on screen?), sensitive topics as well as private or confidential information via e-mail. Jokes are often good to avoid. Stories that might be funny to you and the person you're sending them to might be offensive to someone they get passed on to down the line.
Now, as far as being efficient, and having co-workers happy to open your e-mails, here are some tips: In your subject line, try to come up with a line that gets their attention and is to the point, much like a magazine header or newspaper headline. Also, in the body of the e-mail put the most important information in the first paragraph. Leave all the supporting details and interesting tangential issues to the paragraphs that follow. And as with any sort of writing, us the active rather than the passive voice most of the time. What does this mean? Say, "The dog ate the food" instead of "The food was eaten by the dog." If you use too much passive voice, your readers will fall asleep at their desks.
And one more tip. Limit the amount of time you spend dealing with e-mail during the day. Avoid those little windows that pop up whenever you've got a new message. That way you'll manage your e-mail rather than have it manage you.
Oh, and those smiley face icons? Drag them to the trash right away.
posted by Varus at 1:41 PM
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