Effective Email Communication

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Comparing Student Emails

Version 1

hey,

i need help on my paper can i come by your office tomorrow

Thx

Version 2Dear Dr. Waters,I am in your ENGL 101 class. I have a question about the paper due Tuesday.  “Write a 10 page paper arguing for or against requiring ENGL 101 for all freshmen and provide adequate support for your point of view.” I am unclear on “adequate” support. Would using 3 sources be adequate? May I come by your office tomorrow at 2:00 pm or Friday after 1:00pm? Please let me know if that fits your schedule.  Thank you,Sarah Juarez

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Comparing Workplace Emails

Version 2Subject: tomorrow

As you know, tomorrow afternoon we’ll be meeting to discuss the status of all of our current projects. Donuts will be provided. Be sure to arrive on time and bring along teh materials you have been working on this week—bring enough copies for everyone. Some of these material might include your calendars, reports, and any important e-mails you have sent. Also, I wanted to remind you that your parking permit requests are due later this week; you should turn those in to Ms. Jones, and if she is not at her desk when you stop by, you can e-mail them to her.

Version 1Subject: materials for Wed. staff meeting

Hi, everyone—For tomorrow’s 3 p.m. staff meeting in the conference room, please bring 15 copies of the following materials:• Your project calendar• A one-page report describing

your progress so far• A list of goals for the next

month• Copies of any progress report

messages you have sent to clients this past month

See you tomorrow—Jay

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Components of an Effective Email

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Subject Lines

Email subject lines are like newspaper headlines. They should:

• Convey main point of your e-mail you want reader to take away from your e-mail.

• Be as specific as possible.

• Time sensitive? Include a date in your subject line

o For example: “Meeting on Thurs, Dec 2.”

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Email Greetings

Always use a greeting to start your email. 

When in doubt, address someone more formally to avoid offending them. Some common ways to address your reader are:

Dear Professor Smith,Hello Ms. Lopez,Hi Estella

If you don’t know the name of the person you are addressing, or if the e-mail addresses a diverse group, try something generic, yet polite:

To whom it may concern,Dear members of the selection committee,Hello everyone,

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Email Sign-Offs

Always use a sign-off to close your email. 

If you don’t know the reader well, you might also consider including your title and the organization you belong to:Bassam AllafInternBain and Company

For your closing, something brief but friendly, or perhaps just your name, will do for most correspondence:Thank you, Best,See you tomorrow, Regards, For a very formal message, such as a job application, use the kind of closing that you might see in a business letter:Sincerely, Respectfully yours,

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Carbon Copy (CC)

Copying individuals on an e-mail is a good way to send your message to the main recipient while also sending someone else a copy at the same time:

CCing can help get things done, especially if the person receiving the copy is in a supervisory role.

Remember! When you send a message to more than one address using the Cc: field, the original recipient and all CC recipients can see all the e-mail addresses in the To: and Cc: fields.  

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Blind Carbon Copy (BCC)

Blind Carbon Copying e-mails can be useful when you don’t want everyone on the list to have each other’s e-mail addresses.

The only recipient address that will be visible to all recipients is the one in the To: field.

If you don’t want any of the recipients to see the e-mail addresses in the list, you can put your own address in the To: field and use Bcc: exclusively to address your message to others.

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Tips for Effective Email Communication

• Return emails within same timeframe you return phone calls.

• Take the time to poofread your document before you sent it. Rub the document thru the spell checker and/or the grammer checker.

• Use an appropriate font and point size.

• DON’T TYPE IN ALL CAPS! IT LOOKS LIKE YOU’RE YELLING AT THE READERS!

• don’t type in all lower case.

• When sending an attachment mention what’s attached and make sure it’s sent.

• Deliver the news upfront, in a subject line or within the first sentence

• Think about what you’re writing before you hit the ‘send’ button.

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Tips for Effective Email Communication (cont.)

• As much as possible avoid ‘reply all’ when emailing.

• Do not send huge attachments with emails. It’s better to upload on a shared network resource and send people a link.

• Make sure the proper recipients are on the email and make sure you get the names right 

• If things become heated, misunderstandings will probably occur..

• Keep your message concise. Save longer messages and formal reports for attachments.

• Remember that e-mail is never confidential.

• Don’t “spam” your readers. Don’t send them unnecessary or frivolous messages.

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When is email not the best option?

• If your message is long and complicated

• If your message requires additional discussion that would best be accomplished face-to-face.

• If you want feedback from your supervisor on your work or if you are asking your professor a question that requires more than a yes/no answer or simple explanation, you should schedule a meeting instead.

• If information is highly confidential. E-mail is NEVER private!

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Dealing with Email and Anger

• Write your responses and save them as drafts.

• Let time go by and open the message again and read it carefully and edit it.

• If you would hesitate to say something to someone’s face, do not write it in an e-mail.

• Remember! Every email you send at work stays at work. If you send an angry email now, not only will it hurt your working relationships, but it could be used against you in the future.

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Practice: Dealing with Email and Anger

You are in the middle of a big team project and pressed for time. You receive an email from your manager about an additional work responsibility.

Your manager is not an effective writer so it is unclear what he is asking. You are now even more frustrated.

On top of the high level of stress you are feeling because of the project you’re working on, you are irritated by your manager’s weak communication skills and his inability to write clearly and concisely.

At this point, you have had it with your manager and want to respond to his email accordingly.