Sending email now often replaces writing letters, phoning and meeting face to face. It's an easy and spontaneous medium for business communication, especially when you are interacting with employees and colleagues who are on international assignments. However, its misuse can result in unclear messages, confused responses and frustrated recipients. Sometimes, a lot of extra work is required to repair the damage caused by a garbled message. Here are some tips to help make your email more effective:


Set-Up

• Make sure the subject line is relevant to the content. Many people file emails in folders for reference and it is then easier for them to find the right email.
• Be sure to cc individuals who are either mentioned in the email, or who need the information it contains.
• It is frustrating for recipients when they want to phone or fax you upon receiving an email, and your contact information is hard to find. Make things easy by using a signature line that contains your contact information - phone, fax, cell and/or web site.
• Choose a default font that is friendly – Verdana is a great one.
• Do not use a stationary background that reduces the clarity of the message.
• When sending a group email, put the recipients in the bcc box to protect their privacy. Then address the email to yourself or to a neutral email location.
• When replying to a group email, do not reply to the entire group unless your reply is truly relevant to them.
• Consider including a privacy statement at the bottom of all work-related emails. This protects you when an email goes to a wrong location.

• Whenever possible, don’t deal with conflict, bad behaviour, or negative comments in an email – the potential for real misunderstanding is very strong since people cannot hear the inflection in your voice, which is a big part of communication. Also, what if the email accidentally went to the wrong person!
• Remember that once you press “send”, your written words are in someone else’s hands and have permanence to them. Reread your message to be sure it is clear, concise and that what you typed is what you intended to say…particularly when you are providing direction.
• Reply to your emails immediately, even if just to indicate you have received the message and will follow up with a more complete response later. This will keep the sender from wondering whether you have actually received and read the message or not. It also gives you a cushion of time in which to craft a more detailed response if necessary.
• Some email systems have limits on the size of emails you can send or receive. It’s a good idea to keep your entire message, including attachments, to around two megabytes. If you’re sending a large email, consider sending more than one email, pdfs, or a zipped file.
• To protect yourself from receiving a virus, never open an attachment if you are unfamiliar with the file type - even if it comes from someone you know. Files with the following extensions are less likely to have a virus: .doc, .ppt, .xls, .pdf, .jpg, .gif, .bmp, .tif, .txt, .rtf, .vsd. Zip files are usually safe as well, but be aware that a virus can sometimes be hidden inside.