The email land mines series has continued for several weeks now. Here are the last three items on my list … until you write to me about more.
- Sending Wrong, Too Large, or No Attachments
Did you ever blame someone for not responding to an attachment and then discover that you forgot to attach it in your email? Ever get a gigantic attachment that froze your computer? Ever get an attachment that baffled you because it was irrelevant? Don’t be the source of these kinds of mistakes.
- Inappropriately Using Fonts and Symbols to Show Emphasis
The way to show emphasis is through judicious word choice and sentence structure, not through CAPITAL letters, text acronyms, exclamation marks and emoticons. Craft your message carefully. Don’t rely on cheap tricks.
- Showing Poor Judgment in Forwarding
Forwarding “funny” or “amazing” or politically charged emails detracts from your credibility. People who are busy with actual work may wonder why you have time to spend on forwarding dumb emails.
Summary of Suggestions
Here are a few general suggestions:
- Set your email program so that hitting SEND will send you to the SEND/RECEIVE mode where you will have to choose again whether to send the message.
- Save important emails to your Drafts folder and return to them several hours or a day later.
- Disable the Autofill function on your email program to reduce the risk of sending an email to someone who should not receive it.
- If you find yourself pounding on the keys, breathing fast, or muttering under your breath as you type your email, don’t send it. Let it marinate in your Drafts folder while your emotions settle down.
- In essence, all the land mines can be summarized by succumbing to the urge to hit SEND too quickly. S-l-o-w d-o-w-n. Just because you are capable of transmitting a message instantly does not mean that doing so is a good idea.
Bonus Suggestion
One other point that will increase your daily productivity: We all know that checking and responding to email can consume an entire work day with little solid reward. Limit the number of times per day you check your email. Checking email obsessively has replaced checking voicemail and going for coffee as the number-one way to interrupt work and disrupt concentration. If you want to be really disciplined, do a chunk of work in the morning BEFORE you start with email. Believe me, your emails will be sitting there like good little ducklings, waiting patiently for you until you have finished what you set out to do.
Interested in having a customized session on using email effectively in your organization? Contact Elizabeth Danziger at lizd@worktalk.com or (310) 396-8303 today.