Writing better work emails Part — 2

First hand experience and learnings.

This is in continuation to the Part — 1.

Rule 3: Avoiding what is not required

Keep your email concise. It does not mean you need to miss out on important info and then write another mail for the same.

• Use bullet/number points.
• Make sure you do not use any exclamation marks(!) unless they are to appreciate someone.
• Use hyperlinks feature of your mail client to turn a word into a hyperlink instead of posting a long url. Urls do not look good in between the important stuff and should always be hyperlinked.
• Do not use comic sans. Seriously guys, no one likes to see that font in any mail. The moment I see this font, it makes me think if this is a spam/marketing mail or not.

Rule 4: Not missing to add people and attachments

It makes you look silly. When you don’t add the required files or when you use another email to add a few more people, it gives an impression that you were not careful enough in drafting and thinking it through. Always make it a habit to check:

• Whom have you directly addressed the mail to.
• Who needs to be in the CC.
• You have a PFA at the bottom/top of your mail listing out the attachments(if any).
• Attachments(if any) are complete as mentioned in your mail text.

Rule 5: Auto-reply mails and why they should be clear and helpful

When you are not in office, you must turn ON your holiday auto-reply mail. This mail should not be just a one-liner stating that you are out of town. It should contain the answers to the following questions:

• Whom should the people contact in your absence?
• How can you be reached in case of something urgent?
• When will you be back from leave/holidays?

I hope this piece of advice would be helpful for some of you. I just think that we can solve a lot of time just by following a few simple rules.