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Andrew, a prominent attorney, recently shared his frustration with one of his partners. “He keeps forwarding emails to me with no note at the top about what I’m supposed to be looking at,” he complained. “I don’t have time to read the whole chain of emails!” Andrew gave his partner feedback. “I told him that if he wants me to read the forwarded email, he has to add a note telling me why he forwarded it.” His request was ignored. The partner continued to shoot forwarded messages to Andrew with no note, and he paid a high price: “Now when I get a forwarded email from him, I just delete it without reading it,” Andrew reported.
Forwarding emails is quick and easy; this is both an advantage and a disadvantage. Here are some ideas on forwarding emails for best results.
Three Steps to Forwarding Responsibly
1. Read the whole chain before forwarding.
Forwarding can create embarrassing or downright damaging situations when a person forwards an email chain without realizing that buried in the chain lies confidential information or critical comments. A consulting firm recently lost a major client when someone forwarded the client an email chain. Buried five emails down was a comment from a staff member saying they thought the client was difficult. The client read through the chain and called the managing partner, saying, “If we’re so difficult, you won’t have to deal with us anymore.”
2. Add a note saying why you forwarded the email.
The person you are forwarding to is not a mind reader. Unless you tell her what to look for, she may not find the nugget that you wanted her to see. If possible, highlight the portion of the forwarded message that you want your reader to focus on.
Do not send a long email chain with the note, “See below.” It is not considerate of the other person’s time to expect him to read through the whole chain in the hopes of finding what you wanted him to see. Either note your reason for forwarding or summarize the email chain yourself.
3. Delete the names of previous recipients of the forwarded email.
No one wants to wade through a list of 50 previous recipients before getting to the meat of the message. Unless you have a sound reason for showing the person you are forwarding to who received the original email, scrub the names of previous recipients. In addition, previous recipients might not appreciate having their email addresses outed to someone they may not know.
Is Forwarding the Best Option?
Sometimes, forwarding an email is the best alternative. It quickly transmits a relevant message to other readers without forcing you to rewrite or create a new email. However, forwarding an email may not be the ideal solution for three reasons. First, people may be less likely to open an email that they see is forwarded; if the forwarded email is crucial, consider creating a new email with a subject line that targets your new reader. Second, being able to forward emails effortlessly may lull you into lazy communication habits. Perhaps instead of hitting forward, you would be better served by creating a new email and excerpting the relevant portions of the previous email. This would be more likely to get your readers’ attention. Third, thoughtless forwarding can damage your credibility if you shoot off too many forwarded messages without putting our effort into creating fresh emails.
In short, forwarding is a handy tool when used thoughtfully. It’s so easy to hit “Forward” that we often lose sight of the reality that the people we are forwarding to will not understand why we did it or why they should care about the forwarded message. If you care about getting your message across, consider writing a fresh email with a relevant subject line for your new reader.
Having said that, if you think this Writamin was useful, please forward it to as many people as you can!