Communication is one of the key qualities required by any professional, in-order to effectively deliver his responsibilities. This stands true, eespecially for an Executive Trainee who lives the sales life where it is essential to communicate effectively with everyone. With email communication becoming critical, we should try to adopt the following rules, popularly known as the 10 commandments, for effective email communication:
1. Subject line has to be relevant and meaningful.
Reader scans the subject line in order to decide whether to open, forward, file, or trash a message. Always remember -- your message is not the only one in your recipient's mailbox. You will get a faster response if your recipient can tell from the subject line that it is a real message from a real person.
2. Message has to be focused and readable.
Often recipients only read partway through a long message, hit "reply" as soon as they have something to contribute, and forget to keep reading. This is part of human nature.
a. If your e-mail contains multiple messages that are only loosely related, in order to avoid the risk that your reader will reply only to the first item that grabs his or her fancy, you could number your points to ensure they are all read (adding an introductory line that states how many parts there are to the message).
b. If the points are substantial enough, split them up into separate messages so your recipient can delete, respond, file, or forward each item individually.
3. Try to avoid ‘Attachments’.
Put your information in the body of your e-mail whenever possible as attachments
- are increasingly dangerous carriers of viruses
- take time to download
- take up needless space on your recipient's computer, and
- don't always translate correctly (especially for people who might read their e-mail on portable devices).
Instead of sending a whole word processor file, just copy and paste the relevant text into the e-mail (unless of course your recipient actually needs to view file in order to edit or archive it).
4. You should identify yourself clearly.
While contacting someone for the first time, always include your name, occupation, and any other important identification information in the first few sentences.
If you are following up on a face-to-face contact, you might appear too timid if you assume your recipient doesn't remember you; but you can drop casual hints to jog their memory: "I enjoyed talking with you about PDAs in the elevator the other day."
5. Be kind. Do not flame.
To "flame" someone is to write an abusive personal attack. If you find yourself writing in anger, take a break. Take some time to cool off before you hit "send." Do not "flame" without weighing the consequences.
6. Always proofread.
If you are asking someone else to do work for you, take the time to make your message look professional.
Your spell checker is unlikely to track every mistake. Therefore, if you are sending a message that will be read by someone higher up on the chain of command (a superior or professor, for instance), or if you are about to mass-mail dozens or thousands of people, take an extra minute or two before you hit "send". Show a draft to a close associate, in order to see whether it actually makes sense.
7. Not to assume privacy.
Unless you are a big shot, praise in public, and criticize in private. Don't send anything over e-mail that you wouldn't want posted -- with your name attached -- in the break room.
E-mail is not secure. Just as random pedestrians could easily reach into your mailbox, a curious hacker or malicious criminal can intercept your e-mail. In some companies, the e-mail administrator has the ability to read any and all e-mail messages.
8. Distinguish between formal and informal situations.
When you are writing to a friend or a close colleague, it is OK to use "smilies", abbreviations and nonstandard punctuation and spelling (for example, the format used in instant messaging or chat rooms). These linguistic shortcuts are generally signs of friendly intimacy and therefore should not be used when the reader expects a more formal approach. Always know the situation, and write accordingly.
9. Respond Promptly.
Be professional and courteous in your approach. Always make yourself available to your online correspondents. Even if your reply is, "Sorry, I'm too busy to help you now," at least your correspondent won't be waiting in vain for your reply.
10. Show Respect and Restraint.
Many a flame war has been started by someone who hit "reply all" instead of "reply."
While most people know that e-mail is not private, it is good form to ask the sender before forwarding a personal message. If someone e-mails you a request, it is perfectly acceptable to forward the request to a person who can help -- but forwarding a message in order to ridicule the sender is tacky.
Be tolerant of other people's etiquette blunders. If you think you have been insulted, quote the line back to your sender and add a neutral comment such as, "I'm not sure how to interpret this... could you elaborate?"
Try and remember to incorporate these commandments in the next email you send and observe the difference!
