You probably write emails. Like, all the time.
You also receive emails. A lot of them, probably.
Most emails you read, and probably most emails you write, suck.
Here’s some tips to make them suck less.
- Use the right recipient field.
- Anyone you require action or a reply from goes in the To: field.
- Anyone you want to read the email but from whom you expect nothing, goes in Cc:.
- If you have a list (say, acme-team@), but don’t expect everyone to reply, put the list in Cc, and add the actual people you expect a reply or action from in To, even if they’re already on the list. Any email system worth its salt will deduplicate for you, and people won’t get two copies.
- Don’t use Bcc almost ever (exceptions applies below).
- Keep recipient lists clean, explicitly.
- If you need to bring someone into the thread, follow rules above, and add a note in the body of the email so everyone is aware. For example, “Adding Louise for visibility”.
- If someone is not really relevant anymore, drop them from the thread. But first, tell everyone. To do it, move the person to Bcc, and say at the start of your reply something like “Adam to Bcc“.
- Bcc large lists. People love to reply to all, even when that’s not the right thing to do. Help them to help themselves, and put large lists in Bcc (and yourself in the To field). Rules for Bcc (tell in the body who’s in Bcc) apply, but doing this will avoid a reply storm.
- Keep it short. There is no need to make a whole paragraph of what you could say with a sentence. Nobody please take a short response as a personal offence. Most emails shouldn’t take more than 5 sentences.
- Use the Subject line. The subject is what everyone will read first when they receive your email. Some people don’t read everything right away, and anyone will happily avoid reading more than they need to. If your message can fit 5-8 words, make it your subject and add “EOM” at the end of it. No body required then.
- Start with bold. Write your 5 sentences. Make the sentence that tells the actual message – the action needed, the critical information, whatever – bold. Now take the bold sentence and move it up to the top of the email. You’re welcome. If your email needs to be more than 5 sentences, this rule should be non-negotiable.
- Avoid back and forth by avoiding open questions. Asking “Thoughts?” or “What can we do about this issue?” elicits a conversation. Email is the wrong medium to have a dialogue. If you can’t offer options, offer a meeting, a call, a huddle, something more synchronous. Otherwise, try going with something like (for example) “Can I help the most by talking to their manager, reviewing their document, or leaving you to it?”, or “Can we discuss whether option A or B should be how we move forward?”
Any other email good practice I forgot?