EMAIL
- Video => Social media are increasingly transforming communication. One of the
most common short forms of workplace communication is email.
1. E-Mail: Going Strong at Fifty:
- In 1971, the first electronic mail (email) system was created by Ray Tomlinson. It was
developed with the help of a program called CPYNET.
Roughly 50 years after the first email was sent, total email traffic keeps growing 4
percent a year worldwide. Office workers receive on average 120 messages a day;
globally, 125 billion emails are exchanged daily. Most business messages are still sent
by email. Most businesspeople (85 percent) now first open their email on mobile
devices.
One email proponent argues that email is technologically far superior to social media ,
messaging, and collaboration platforms; he offers advice on turning email into the
biggest, “least-distracting”, and most sophisticated social network, but one that is
offering greater privacy.
=> Workplace email is unlikely to go away. When it comes to marketing, email is
very much alive and kicking. Moreover, email has replaced paper memos for many
messages.
2. Common Complaints About Email:
Business journalist Suzy Welch is emphatic that sloppiness and mistakes are not an
option: “You may like to write off-the-cuff, train-of-thought messages, because it’s
fast and easy,” she says, “but no one wants to receive them, OK? No one.”.
Author Vicky Oliver insists that more than one typo per e-mail is unprofessional. She
also complains about impersonal “one-line emails that are so transactional they sound
like an automaton is responding.”.
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon is eager to hire graduates with liberal arts
backgrounds because writing skills in general are increasingly harder to find, he
laments.
- Email messages can be confusing and poorly written.
- Email overload: Many people are overwhelmed with too many messages. E-mail can
eliminate the distinction between work life and home life.
- The Scary Permanence of Digital Messages: Email files leave trails on servers and
provide damaging and costly evidence in court cases.
3. Knowing When Email Is Appropriate:
- Short informal messages mostly travel by text, instant message, or chat.
- E-mail is appropriate for:
+ Longer, more involved, and well-organized messages that may provide or request
information and respond to inquiries.
+ Messages to multiple receivers.
+ Messages that must be archived (saved).
+ A cover document when sending longer attachments.
- E-mail is not a substitute for face-to-face conversations or telephone calls. People are
34 times more likely to comply with in-person requests than those sent by email.
4. Composing Professional Emails:
- Professional emails involve all three stages of the writing process: prewriting, drafting
and revising.
- They have compelling subject lines, appropriate greetings, well-organized bodies, and
complete closing information.
- The following writing plan will help you create information email quickly:
+ Draft a Compelling but Concise Subject Line: Summarize the purpose of the
message clearly. Try to include a verb. Subject lines should appear as a combination
of uppercase and lowercase letters.
+ Include a Greeting, also called a salutation (the words that are used in a letter to
address the person you are writing to): The greeting sets the tone for the message and
reflects your audience analysis.
+ Organize the Body for Readability and Tone: In the revision phase, get rid of
wordiness, but don’t sacrifice clarity. To convey the best tone, read the message aloud.
+ Close Effectively: Complete with action statement, name, and contact information.
EX: Model document that starts directly and displays proper formatting. It also illustrates
how a draft can be revised to improve readability: Subject line includes informative, state
purpose concisely, organize main points, close with key benefit, deadline and next action.
5. Keeping Your Inbox in Check:
- To keep your inbox in check, follow these tips:
+ Check your email at set times.
+ Turn off audio and video alerts to avoid distraction.
+ Agree on a schedule with your boss and share it with your colleagues.
+ Apply the two-minute rule by answering short emails immediately and scheduling
time to answer complex emails later.
6. Replying Efficiently With Down-Editing:
- Down-editing involves inserting your responses to parts of the incoming message.
- To use down-editing effectively:
+ Delete the sender’s message headers, signature, and all unnecessary parts.
+ Include only the parts of the incoming message to which you are responding.
+ Identify your responses with your initials if more than one person will be seeing the
response.
+ Use a different font color for your down-edits.
References:
1. The Radicati Group. (2019, April). Email market, 2019-2023. Retrieved from
https://www.radicati.com; Clement, J. (2019, August 9). Number of email users
worldwide 2017-2023. Statista. Retrieved from https:// www.statista.com.
2. Tschabitscher, H. (2019, June 27). 19 fascinating email facts. Lifewire. Retrieved
from https://www.lifewire.com; Lynkova, D. (2019, April 22). The surprising reality
of how many emails are sent per day. Techjury. Retrieved from https://techjury.net.
3. The Radicati Group. (2018, March). Email statistics report, 2018-2022. Retrieved
from https://www.radicati.com.
4. Clement, J. (2019, August 9). E-mail usage in the United States— Statistics & facts.
Statista. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com.
5. Elgan, M. (2018, March 31). Why email is the best social network. Computerworld.
Retrieved from https://www.computerworld.com.
6. Connley, C. (2018, June 5). Suzy Welch: 4 email mistakes that make people hate you.
CNBC. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com.
7. Gillett, R. (2017, February 21). 21 unprofessional email habits that make everyone
hate you. Business Insider. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com.
8. La Roche, J. (2019, March 16). Goldman Sachs CEO reveals the valuable job skill
he’s finding “less and less.” Yahoo Finance. Retrieved from
https://finance.yahoo.com.
9. Bohns, V. K. (2017, April 11). A face-to-face request is 34 times more successful than
an email. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org.
