Workplace or business communications are vital for smooth functioning of organization and sound business growth. Among all forms of business communications, email is probably the most effective and efficient medium of communication. It is also the most extensively used tool for communication.

Email is a time tested tool for delivering internal as well as external communications in a business landscape. In order to impart the best possible effectiveness to email communications, we need to follow certain rules while expressing ourselves in email communications. These tips would help avoid common mistakes that could lead to catastrophic consequences, misunderstandings, and miscommunications.

Treat Email with Due Seriousness

It is observed that many individuals make generous use of internet slang or short forms of words or phrases while writing email communications. It is not recommended to be skimpy with text while sending official communications. Similarly, you should avoid using colloquial language or emoticons since any business communications needs to have a universal appeal.

One must attach great significance to the way an email message is drafted. Official mails need to be direct and clear. Over-use of figure of speech, sayings, and quotes is not encouraged for the same reason.

Never ever hit the ‘send’ button without proof-reading the content of your email. Every single communication that is being sent out must be edited for clarity. This also applies to the facts mentioned in the email, since any factual information or data must be thoroughly checked for flaws.

Address one Person at a Time

The field to mention recipient is generally denoted by ‘To’, followed by CC or BCC. Never enter more than one person’s email address in the field ‘To’. This can send confusing message regarding for whom the message is really intended for. It is advisable to use CC or BCC to add those individuals you need to keep in the loop. Number of individuals in the CC field should be optimum otherwise your mail will have a spammy appeal.

Archiving

It is a good habit to save your emails in appropriately assigned folders. These can be handy in future. Many times we need to refer to old mails by struggling to find these by typing different keywords in the email’s search box. You can save important time by archiving mails.

Clarity of Subject

It is observed that in most of the cases a subject line appears in the inbox in next to the name of the sender. It is therefore essential to think of a clear and concise subject line that would prompt the reader to open the mail. Message line is the most important component of the email message. It offers the highlight of the content as well as the context of the mail.

Avoid Sending Bulky Attachments

In business email applications there are limitations to the size of mail attachments. Hence you need to avoid attaching bully files to your email communications. It would be advisable to leverage online storage sites so that you will need only to share the link without loading your communications.

Heavier attachments are responsible to slow down the message sending process. This can be avoided by link sharing or any other plausible way. The same holds true for receiver since the heavy incoming mail might cause jamming of the receiver’s inbox. Hence link sharing benefits sender as well as receiver.

Use of Markups

It would be great if you could highlight important points by using bold, underline, or colors. Always use standard fonts such as Times, Arial, or Calibri. The size of fonts should be kept as normal because too big or too small fonts can be irritating to readers.

Responding to Emails

It is a common tendency of many people to read only the opening lines of mail. This will force the sender to shoot reminders because of no action from your side. Hence it is strongly recommended to pay undivided attention to the content of the mail.

If you think you are short of time to go through the entire content, then you need to read the mail as soon as you have attended to other more important tasks at your hand. His also highlights importance of keeping your mails short and mentioning vital points at the very beginning of the mails.

Soliciting Responses

Many times we are sending communications in order to seek some information. In such cases you have to be assertive while asking for a response by clearly indicating a practical timeline. If the response is not received within the stipulated time then instead of shooting a reminder it is better to pick up the phone to know the reason.