40 Short Tips for Better E-Mail

I don’t know if you’re like me but despite being a heavy user of e-mail, I am still often puzzled by it. More specifically, by how we often fail to use it to its full potential.

How many times does it happen that you receive an e-mail from a professional contact, a client or a supplier/vendor, perhaps even from an important work colleague, and you have so much trouble deciphering its meaning that you pick up the phone or get on chat to ask the sender what exactly they want you to do?

Given how insanely busy so many of us are, it would seem obvious, at least to me, that clear and succinct communications not only help with time and information management, they are also more courteous.

Lucky me. The other day, I discovered consultant Josh Spector who has written a very helpful list of 40 One-Sentence Email Tips:

“Email doesn’t have to be a nightmare.”

“Here are a collection of concepts to help you write better emails, optimize your inbox, and keep your sanity.”

My favourite:

38. No one ever says “I wish the paragraphs in that email were longer.”

The one that made me laugh very hard:

 11. The worst time to “do email” is every time you get an email.

Check them out. Which tip is your favourite? Perhaps don’t mention the one with the “f-word” in it (#19 for the curious), but there are a lot of excellent tips there.

[Source: the beSpacific website]