How to write an efficient work email: give you 10 tips

by Daxi June 10, 2016

E-mail is an essential communication tool at work, although instant messaging software is also playing a very important role in the work, but e-mail still has an irreplaceable advantage, I have been working every day to deal with various e-mails, but I also found a lot of friends and colleagues, It's not clear how to write an efficient work e-mail, and this article is written today to share my work e-mail writing advice to colleagues who often use e-mail, or just a friend who is entering the workplace. We share the encouragement.

1. Prominent message headers

The message header is an important part of the message, and you need to summarize the content and intent of the message in a nutshell. If it is a very targeted message, you can use the keyword and the description of a sentence as the title, if it is a more generic, or need to discuss an uncertain question, you can use "about XXXX discussion/description" and so on as the title. Let me give you a few examples:

• Large seats-2015 year-end summary//description: Issued to the leadership of the year-end summary, the direct name as the key word, then the year and work summary, the recipient received the mail will be able to know that so-and-so the summary has been handed over. There is no need to open the mail, or look at the sender's address to determine who's summary
• About the design of a discussion//description: Some of the contents of the message may not be easy to summarize, or the content is more cluttered, this time can consider this title, received this title of the mail, I usually do, marked for later reading.
• A team-National day-purple Mountain climbing Competition Activity plan//Description: This is a group-oriented notification class mail, the first keyword can let people outside the team to see this is a team's mail, but also to remind everyone on the team, this is the message they should be concerned about. The second keyword can indicate that it is related to the holidays and can not affect your current job.

2. Distinguish the recipient from the CC

Mail can be sent to the recipient, but also can be sent to the CC person, their differences must be known to everyone, one is the direct object of the mail, a message is only the person who knows. Therefore, we should separate the two, do not put all the brain into the recipient. My principle is:

• To a person who requires explicit notice or needs to be acted on
• CC Person: Need to know about this or need to tell the other person I am dealing with this matter

3. Use the mailing list (maillist)

If you can, please set up a mailing list for people you often contact, or teams or departments, to quickly send these people without missing a colleague. Of course, the mailing list needs to be maintained, including new people or someone leaving the office, to update the mailing list in a timely manner. Prevent message omissions and information leaks.

4. Who should appear in the mail header

According to the 2nd note, I think the recipient of the people will appear in the head, of course you can also use a general term to replace, such as XXX team. The CC person should not appear in the header.

5. List the problem by listing method

Lists are a list of issues that can enhance your understanding of the problem and give the recipient a clearer idea of what you are saying.

6, each line of text not too long

The text of each line in the message should not be too long, to wrap in the appropriate position, to avoid the creation of a horizontal scroll bar, so that the rightmost text also need to scroll to the right to see. affect the reading effect.

7. Use font style to highlight keywords

Now the mail client is supporting rich text editing, we should use this feature, the message keyword, important statements through the text bold, set the font color or background color to achieve the purpose of highlighting. For example, a location stating when a colleague is required to do so can be written as: "Please xxx do something". This way the recipient can immediately see his or her name and define his or her task.

8. Important columns on the left side of the table

If you want to insert a table in a message, put the important columns on the left side of the table and keep the most important information in the most visible position. Improve reading efficiency.

9, even if the attachment class mail, please also write the body

If you just want to send an attached document by email, many people may have added the attachment and sent it directly. This is a bad habit, I suggest in the text of the simplest write down: "About XXX information, please find the attachment, thank you!" "To do this is to remind the recipient of what they want in the attachment, and to prevent the attachment from being damaged or lost in transit, so that the recipient does not know what the message is about." I came across an issue in which I received an Outlook attachment error in Thunderbird.

10. Don't forget your signature

It is best not to forget to add your name and contact information at the end of the message. Of course, it is strongly recommended that you sign your email in advance.

Recommended reading:

How to organize my mail

Outlook2013 three tips to help you work more efficiently

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How to write an efficient work message: give you 10 tips