A brief primer on basic E-mail etiquette and strategy

2. E-mail is a fact of life, so how can we make the most
of it while minimizing their impact on our precious time?

3. Making E-mail work better for business
Greg Rose
September 1, 2009

4. Ingredients of E-mail etiquette
Timing
& Strategy
Addressing Content
& Replying & Tone
Structure

5. Timing
What E-mail is really good for… & Strategy
• Documenting decisions, keeping a paper trail.
• Coordinating events like meetings.
• Broadcasting essential information to lots of people.
• Sending attachments.
• When you need to explain something very carefully.
• Saying nice things about people.
• Reaching almost anyone, anywhere, anytime.

6. Timing
What E-mail is really bad for… & Strategy
• Conveying nuance, emotion, meaning.
• Making decisions about complicated issues.
• Giving criticism.
• Delivering bad news.
• Respecting hierarchy, propriety, personal time .

7. Timing
A phone call is worth a thousand E-mails & Strategy
“If you need to discuss something with somebody, don‟t start
an E-mail conversation with them. Pick up the phone and call
them. Quite often I find myself in these e-mail conversations that
spiral
out of control going back and forth. It seems to end up taking a lot
of time (cumulatively) when a two minute conversation would
have met the same end much quicker.” Bob

8. Timing
A phone call is worth a thousand E-mails & Strategy

9. Timing
A phone call is worth a thousand E-mails & Strategy
Should„ve picked up the phone!

10. Timing
Practice the Golden Rule when timing your emails & Strategy
Try to send requests and to do‟s during normal business hours.

11. Content
Don’t flex your muscles & Tone
If you would not say it to their face, don‟t type it.

12. Content
Don’t flex your muscles & Tone
Don‟t type it even if you would say it to their face!

13. Content
Don’t flex your muscles & Tone
“People hide behind email and it creates loads of problems.”
“Tone can easily be misinterpreted in emails. Choose your words
carefully so that the reader is not confused, insulted, or offended.”
“Most people get „email muscles‟—they will put in an email
things they would never say to the persons face.”

14. Content
A true story & Tone
“One time I wrote a really nasty email to a good friend of mine
because I was upset about something and I saved it my „drafts‟
folder without sending it. I did it just to make myself feel better and
did not plan to send it.
More than a year later, I upgraded my email application and it
decided to send all the emails in my draft folder. I got a phone call
from my friend who was all upset and didn't understand why I sent
the email...It didn't make any sense, of course, being a year out of
context. It was pretty bad...”

15. Content
What’s wrong with this? & Tone

16. Content
Please don’t please me. & Tone
Please sounds annoyed or pleading even when you meant to be polite.

17. Content
Also… & Tone
• Avoid being overly casual or formal.
• Avoid blame. Keep it neutral and factual.
• Keep it short and to the point.
• Review for clarity and grammar.
• Spell-check before you send.
• One E-mail, one topic.

18. Put yourself in your readers’ shoes Structure
E-mails that have no structure and run on get ignored.

19. Be strategic, structured, clear, specific. Structure

20. Structure
Keep on being strategic, structured, clear, specific.

21. Addressing
You talkin’ to ME? & Replying
Be clear about who you are addressing

22. Addressing
Beware the Reply All & Replying
Consider the vast amount of E-mail traffic before hitting Reply All

23. Addressing
Remember… & Replying
• Put only the person or persons you are addressing
in the TO field.
• Put everyone else in the Cc or Bcc field.
• Be sure to include your addressee‟s name at the
beginning of the E-mail.
• Limit the number of people you send to, but be careful not
to step on toes.
• Don‟t „Reply All‟ to meeting invitations. Only the meeting
coordinator needs to know your availability.

24. Remember these seven tips before you hit send:
1. Never just hit reply-all without thinking about it first.
2. Keep it nice. Keep it clean. E-mails don‟t go away.
3. Subject line. Subject line. Subject line.
4. New topic, new E-mail thread, new subject line!
5. Double-check your recipients.
6. Be clear about what actions you want and by whom.
7. Consider picking up the phone instead.

25. To learn more, read the book SEND by David Shipley and Will Schwalbe.

26. Have fun building better E-mails!
Greg Rose
www.gregrosedesign.com