Hate writing work emails? Here’s how to make it easy.
Plan and quickly write laser-sharp work emails that move projects forward.
Email sucks, you’re stuck with it, and that’s not even the bad news.
The bad news is, email won’t be getting better any time soon-no matter how many productivity features Google unleashes upon our Gmail inboxes, or how many hipper, smarter email clients come along and try to budge Gmail off its billion-plus-user throne.
But if you hate email-and who doesn’t?-it isn’t all Google’s fault.
Part of what you don’t like about email is on you.
If you run a business where you’re always chasing new leads, you probably spend too much time answering the same big picture questions about what you do and what you can bring to the table, over and over again. That will wear you down over time.
Or how about all those carefully crafted, 10-point project updates you fired off to clients that you never got any feedback on? Have people forgotten how to read?
No, they haven’t, and it’s not Gmail’s fault either.
Disembodied conversations that read more like digital answering machine messages, and critical attachments that have to be dredged up from a gig of stacked emails-that’s on Google.
But the rest is on you.
Now for the good news.
If you want to free yourself from the email grind-i.e. spend less time communicating better-you can. You’re just going to have to change a few things about how you think about and write your emails.
Before you start writing
We already mentioned that one of the most annoying and user-unfriendly things about Gmail, or any other email client you’re using with the exception of a radical disruptor like Spike, is that it’s designed to produce disjointed communication.
We’re talking about the notorious stacked thread, which forces you to physically and mentally toggle between messages, and sometimes multiple threads, to find what you’re looking for.
You don’t want to add to this cognitive load. Here are two things you can do before you start typing to make sure you don’t.
Join the conversation in the right place
First, if you’re writing on a totally new topic, start a new thread. If what you have to say is part of a thread, keep it in the thread. Common sense? Sure, but sometimes we email on auto pilot and our fingers drift to the “compose” button without thinking.
Nail your subject line
Number two, this isn’t a short story, where it’s common practice to settle on a title after you’re done writing.
Emails are 100-word transactions that depend on laser-sharp focus to do what they’re supposed to do: get and give critical information clearly and quickly. Articulating the scope of your email with a unique, concise subject line is a great way to set the standard for the rest of the email.
Why unique? Because a thread that says “First Trust Bank Homepage Second Revision” is a lot easier to find in a week or month than “Our Revisions”. Unique subject lines also make it a lot easier for anyone that gets cc’d in later to join the conversation.
1. Get right to the point. If you’re too concerned about nuance, call.
Don’t waste energy on pleasantries, formalities, jokes or banter when you hit “compose”. A simple “hope you’re well” will usually do the trick.
Instead, spend some time formulating, in one crystal clear, scannable sentence, the reason you’re writing.
If you’re stuck because the issue is really sensitive, emotional or ambiguous, pick up the phone and call. Better to risk the awkwardness of calling a client-or even the boss-than get stuck in a chain of vague, meandering emails.
With this caveat: every relationship is different. Do you joke around with Bob at the water cooler? Keeping that register in emails is just fine.
2. Include three (actionable) details maximum
In real life, you don’t ask people for more than one or two things at a time. Keep the same “maximum load” protocol for emails. You might think you’re killing two (to 10) birds with one stone. But actually you’re not.
You’re forcing whoever you’re writing to to answer 10 questions, form 10 opinions, think about 10 different things at once. Chances are, if you do, your email gets slated for answer early next May.
Tip from the field
This is the wild world of email. Nothing happens exactly according to listicles. You may know that raising more than three points per email is just diminishing returns, but that doesn’t mean a client won’t send you a 10-point list of feedback.
Do you answer point by point? Try not to. Acknowledge the feedback when you reply and link back to the actual results, your deliverables, because that’s what will get scrutinized.
3. Chunk up and style the details so that readers have well-marked signposts
Have three key points to make? Great. Keep them as brief as possible and bullet them like this.
- They’re easier to pick out this way
- They distill your concerns into the essentials
- They break the monotony of a sheer block of text
Notice the bolding of the most important words? That makes my bullets super scannable. You should do it, too. Just keep your list styling simple. No funky fonts or colors.
4. Have a go-to FAQ you can use for open-ended questions that would normally take you hours to respond thoughtfully to
Web designer Mike Davidson had an idea back in 2007. After spending a few years getting swamped by emails, he decided to change his whole philosophy. No matter who wrote him or how much they wrote, Davidson would respond in five sentences or less, or about the length of an SMS.
The crux of Davidson’s philosophy was that, unlike old-fashioned letters and new-fangled SMS, emails were based on an imbalanced division of labor, i.e. you can whip off a few questions in 30 seconds that could take me an hour or more to answer.
Which brings us to the point.
You know more about your job than anyone else. If you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner who spends a lot of time chasing down new leads, you’re explaining what you do a lot.
Answering those questions from scratch every time-even tracking down answers you’ve already written-is wasting your time. Better to compile a thoughtful, conversational, concise FAQ for those big picture questions that you can paste into emails with a little personalization.
Don’t make a special project out of it. Collect them over time. Eventually, the system will pay off, (and you’ll have a great resource for your website, too.)
5. Have an ask or call to action (CTA) at the end
If you don’t really need something concrete, don’t write that email. If you need something, make sure you say it.
Pretty simple, but sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking what we want is implicit: our money back, an extra day of vacation, another round of edits.
Even if it is implicit, say it.
Bonus tip
If you’re writers like we are, and you use Google docs, never link to your deliverable at the top of the email. If you want the rest of your email to get read, stick the goods at the very bottom right after your CTA.
The take-away
Are these five tips going to rekindle your dormant love affair with email?
Probably not. Email still sucks, and it will continue to suck for the foreseeable future.
But, really, haven’t you spent enough time mucking about your inbox, rueing the day you opened your email account?
You may not be able to escape email-no one really does-but efficient, well-organized, actionable communication is your ticket out of the grind.
Still not sure about this? Check out our Easy Email to see our five tips in action. If you’re looking for some help with your own emails, check out our email writing service.
