How to Communicate Better Through Email

 ‘Dear Sir, 

Could you please take a look at this and let me know what you think?’


OR


‘Hello Sir, 

I would like to collaborate with your team for the upcoming project. 

Let me know when I can call you.’


Inarguably, email is the most effective piece of communication since its inception. It is quick, smart and free. But if you are writing these kinds of emails and think that why are not receiving responses then let us spill the beans for you. In these trying times, when we are wedded to our digital screens and spend more time with other humans, one needs to write precise, simple and clear emails. 


  1. Writing the subject line

The struggle with writing the subject line is perennial and universal. How do you ensure the 80 characters contain the gist of your message. Place the action verb in caps to highlight the message. For example: 


INFO: The office is closed on Monday (sounds like a dream) 


FEEDBACK: Recent decks and POC documents


REPORT: Sending the analysis report on the ‘X’ project


REQUEST: Approve the leave on Monday (another dream)


You see the difference. Would you open an email which has a crisp headline like this? 


  1. The content of the email

  • Be courteous. Be polite. 

  • Segregate the information into bullets or paragraphs. Human brains read/absorb information in byte-sized pieces, more so now because, hello Work From Home. 

  • Do not highlight / underline / use caps lock for every second line. Also, do not make it look like a painter’s color palette. 

  • Do not deal with multiple topics of conversations in a single email. Nothing will be answered. If you are struggling with the overwhelming information from various sources, so is the receiver of your email. 


  1. Formatting your email

More often than you would expect, you are judged for not formatting your email properly. 

An ill-formatted email is always a mental note in your name. We are living in an era of immediacy, and we are typing things in a hurry but how about selecting everything and ‘CLEAR FORMATTING.’


If you’ve received something from the recipient, offer your thanks. It could be a thank you for an offer of assistance, for an interesting piece of content they shared or even for simply reading the email.

“Thank you for sharing your article on management strategies. The findings are valuable.’

 You can thank us later. 


  1. Adding CALL TO ACTION

You must have heard of this a lot of times by now, thanks to the unprecedented advent of digital marketing and social media.  What do you want them to do? 


‘Please provide your feedback on the budget.’


‘Can you participate in the project kick-off meeting next Thursday?’


‘Did you have any revisions to the final report?’



  1. Signing off

Be sure to add your name at least.


Oh, we forgot to add attachments, here you go in the second email (adds attachment). Please do not do this like we did here. Thanks to the uber smart Gmail algorithm which reminds you to add attachments if you have written any form of the verb ‘attach’ 


We hope this helps you to become better communicators at workplaces. May the internet be with you.  



- The Quest Editorial Team

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