We all get far too many emails on an average day. Overall, instant communications such as email make life a great deal easier but can lead to mistakes made inadvertently.
Learning to send a good, professional email is the key to getting your point across efficiently and effectively to your reader without anything getting lost along the way.
Consider these do’s and don’ts of professional workplace emails the next time you find yourself hitting the “compose email” button at work.
DON’T
Aggressions
Never use aggressive words to offend someone, even if you are conflicting with this person. Conflicts are expected in a business environment, and you have to learn how to deal with them. Avoid at all costs sending written undesired messages to another person.
Use Bad Words
Even if you are sending an email to a very close colleague or friend at work, remember, all communications can be monitored, and someone from HR can flag your email as inappropriate.
The email can also be forwarded to someone else at any time, so if you are using bad words, you may be worried that you can be exposed.
Use Reply All
This should go without saying. Avoid using reply all unless everyone really needs to see your response. In general, you should consider who needs to be included as a recipient in an email before you send it. Sending too many unnecessary emails can cause your emails to be put off when you have something urgent or important to say.
Write too much
A block of text is intimidating and discourages a reader from taking the time to read what you’ve written. Eliminate the unnecessary “fluff” words from your communications and focus on the main content.
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DO
Consider your audience
An email to a good friend will look significantly different than an email to your boss. Consider who it is you are writing to and what sort of language is best for your reader. Use an appropriate greeting: “hey” might work in some emails, but a more formal salutation is often more appropriate. Typically, you should avoid using slang in professional communications, but what exactly your email looks like will depend on your specific scenario.
Lead with the most important point
Think back to a time when you were overly busy, distracted, or tired at work. Did you take the time to read through the entire emails you received that day carefully? More likely, you read the opening line and skimmed through the rest. Keep this in mind when you compose emails and lead with the most critical point. If you require something from your reader, make an effort to get this across in the first line.
Use spell check
Hopefully, this tip is pretty obvious, but it is essential nonetheless. Nothing ruins your credibility as much as spelling errors. Spell check is an invaluable tool – use it! However, you cannot rely entirely on spell check as some mistakes will inevitably slip past. Additionally, spell check won’t permanently save you from the most embarrassing mistake – misspelling your recipient’s name! Use spell checks as a tool but remember that proofreading your work is required.
Reread before sending: It may be annoying, but taking the time to review your writing before hitting the send button is a good use of your time. Reread your work, evaluating your writing for clarity as you go. A quick, simple proofread will do you wonders.
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Wrapping Up
This article described the importance of efficient written communication and provided a few do’s and don’ts regarding professional workplace emails.
Consider these simple do’s and don’ts the next time you find yourself writing a professional email in your workplace.
The reader will appreciate it, and you’ll find you can get your point across more clearly and efficiently.
Before long, these tips will become second nature, and you’ll be writing professional emails like a pro without even thinking about it!
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