The death of email has been greatly exaggerated. While professionals have lots of new tools – from Slack messaging to project management software like Asana – email remains stubbornly at the center of people’s work lives.
According to a 2019 Adobe survey, professionals spend over 3 hours a day on email. This hasn’t changed much. Back in 2012, McKinsey report found that workers spend 28% of their day on email.
While we may not be able to kill email, we can do email better. To this end, here are my 7 tips for writing emails that don’t suck.
Craft a clear, specific subject
An email isn’t a gift that needs to be unwrapped to see what’s inside. Your subject should clearly state – you guessed it! – the subject of the correspondence. It should include any details that might distinguish it from other related topics.
- Bad subject: Student IEP
- Good subject: Sally James 2022 IEP
I also like to use characters such as “greater than” (>) or “pipes” | to provide structure, and “brackets” ([ ]) to indicate state or status:
- Example: Sally James > 2022 IEP [draft]
- Example: Sally James > 2022 IEP [draft]
This may seem overkill, but helps keep threads organized for everyone.
Don’t overload your email with multiple topics
If a clear subject is important, sticking to it is even more important. Emails overloaded with topics can quickly spin out of control into multiple conversations. And these conversations can be very difficult to track. (See threaded emails below.)
Resist the temptation to add “one other thing” to an otherwise focused email. Draft a new email for that topic.
And: If an email thread jumps topics, be the hero: Give that thread a new topic. I usually call this out with a simple response of “Renaming this email to reflect XYZ subject. If you’re talking about XYZ, please use this thread.”
Keep it simple smarty
Forget fancy language and elaborate phraseology. Email is a time for clarity and economy of words.
Forget the fancy language and elaborate phraseology. Email is a time for clarity and economy of words. Your first paragraph should clearly state the main subject. Successive paragraphs should provide additional details.
If the email is directive or asking something from recipients, include a clear “call to action” on a new line – linked, bolded, bulleted or otherwise visually distinct from the primary content.
Practice good formatting: paragraph breaks, links, bullets, and more
I have a particular pet peeve with long paragraphs. They’re difficult to read without a bookmark and they don’t lend well to scanning.
With your clear email in hand, be gratuitous with paragraph breaks, bullets, and formatting such as subheads. If you have a URL or document to link, make sure the link is active – not all email programs do this automatically. Think about the reader!
Don’t let email become a threaded conversation
Email is spectacularly bad for discussions. If threads are commonplace, it’s probably a sign your company needs to up its game.
Even an email with a single topic, clear language, and good formatting can become a deep, threaded discussion. And email is a spectacularly bad tool for discussions. They are asynchronous and email programs do a lousy job of presenting threads. Ever look for a specific attachment in an email thread 30 messages deep?
Instead, jump on a chat or phone call if you’re going back and forth. You can then use email to communicate back the decision or agreement at hand.
If these types of email threads are commonplace, it’s probably a good sign your company needs to up its game with tools like Google Drive and Asana (see our Project Management Basics post).
Cut once, measure twice (and use spellcheck or Grammarly)
There’s nothing worse than a follow-up email of shame that says “Sorry, sent prematurely….”
Spelling and grammar mistakes look unprofessional and can detract from the message. Proofread any email of substance before sending, and for important communication, we recommend a tool such as Grammarly.
And finally, to prevent a draft or incomplete email from being sent accidentally: add the addresses last. There’s nothing worse than a follow-up email of shame that says “Sorry, sent prematurely….”
Choose recipients thoughtfully
Most professionals get dozens of emails every day. While it may be tempting to include everyone in your communication, keep the list to the folks who either need to respond or be informed.
It’s also OK to remove people from specific replies – in particular, if the email thread changes the topic or deep dives into a specific point. Just remember to change the subject appropriately!
