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What would your life be like today without email? Not that you or many others are serious about getting rid of it, but you may have often thought of it as more of a nuisance than a valuable tool. This thought usually occurs when you’re trying to filter out spam, or reading a reply that misconstrued your intent, or when your best friend tells you to forward something to 10 other best friends, or (pick you own pet peeve).
There is much to be said on this subject in the form of recommended “do’s and don’ts,” and one of the experts in this regard is Jane Jude, independent consultant in technology and public speaking. Jude, who spent 21 years at Hargray Communications, began using email in 1994. She recently addressed the email subject with members of the Leadership Class of 2009 during their orientation.
Jude began by showing examples of messages sent to a wrong person or wrong group, followed by a horrendous example where someone addressed, in the “to” line, more than 100 recipients, thus providing everyone with a terrific new mailing list for… whatever. She reminded us to use the “bcc” when wanting to keep the address list confidential.
Other good practices include making the subject line short and meaningful, like a headline, not a message in itself. When responding to someone on a different subject, change the subject line accordingly. Be specific and don’t use “wacky” punctuation that might send your message directly to a spam filter.
Treat the body of the message as you would a letter, left-justify with proper punctuation and grammar, and be habitual in proofing for errors. Avoid acid background colors that detract from the message. Don’t use sarcasm, which could be misconstrued, and don’t use email for discipline or to resolve conflicts.
Because some systems do not automatically include the original message in a reply, you should be sure to include any relevant points when responding. Use “read receipt” only when urgency necessitates your knowing it was received, not as a routine function for all sent messages.
Consider the size and format of any attachments (some systems will warn if over-large), especially if you know a recipient to be using dial-up access. Try to avoid sending a months-long thread of correspondence, by deleting all except the essential and timely messages.
By way of further advice, Jude explained that she personally uses three separate addresses (most systems will permit multiples): one for work; one for personal stuff; and one for E-commerce, i.e., shopping.
She offered further advice for those of us who may be addicted to our inbox by suggesting that we check it only four times per day, at the hours of 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m., and 4 p.m.; doing other tasks or chores in-between. Jude said never to leave a message in your inbox once you have read it. If you need to respond to a new message, do so only if it takes less than two minutes. Otherwise put it in one of three folders: archive, action needed, or hold.
What has changed over the years in our email usage? Clearly, it has become more of a tool and a necessity to many who depend on it as their primary means of day-to-day communications. It no longer is the tool only of early adopters, and is now worldwide and pervasive. Along with that, Jude pointed out that email software has become more flexible and powerful, with lots of tempting features.
The ongoing challenge for most of us is continued learning to use email more effectively, enabling us to use our time more productively.
For more information, Jane Jude can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .
