Author: Ernesto Fierro
Email Management has become central to communication. In essence, knowing how to manage emails has become crucial to the way we communicate with our colleagues and our employers. However the question remains; what constitutes good email management? What steps must one follow in order to utilize proper emailing techniques? In this course highlight, we’ll touch upon general guidelines that businesses must follow in order to practice good email communication while avoiding drawbacks.
Best Practices
It goes without saying that “instant communication” has become a common practice among employers. With this in mind, its crucial we identify proper practices when relying on email for documents, presentations, and ideas. One general rule that cuts across all specific guidelines regarding email management involves three crucial areas.
- Audience ( Who the email is meant for)
- Subject Line ( Specificity is key)
- Copying others ( Include relevant individuals)
Emails should follow basic standards involving grammar, punctuation, and spelling. This ensures professionalism between employers. In addition, subject lines should follow a well structured format to express a single message. In other words, direct and descriptive lines become crucial when creating a subject line. By adhering to a direct message on the subject line, receivers can correctly interpret the intended message . Moreover, tonality plays a vital role in the way messages are interpreted. Given our dependence on digital communication, its important to understand how tone comes across. One study found that only 7 % of transmitted communication involves words. While the study does consider email exchanges, it does raise implications for email tonality. In doing so, it’s important to check your language and word choice before sending emails.
Email Threads and Distribution
Focusing on a single topic in email exchanges often becomes difficult due to an increasing distribution list. With this in mind, its important to assess your distribution list to ensure relevance. In other words, make sure to only include people who are relevant to the topic. Because distribution lists allow you to email multiple people at once, its crucial to assess your list. In doing so, employers can avoid sending unwanted information and avoid unintentionally sharing addresses with spammers.
Email Security and Polices
One rule of thumb in email management is; never open a suspicious email. It goes without saying that hackers target online users for identity theft and other motives. In order to safeguard business emails, avoid clinking on links or providing personal date such as social security or credit card information. With regards to policies, its important to adhere to the standards and regulations set forth by the company. The rules and regulations vary, but most companies establish policies involving privacy and sharing confidential information with non-employee individuals. Most companies establish email usage policies to deal with potential issues.
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References
Best Practices for Email Subject Lines (2018, June 20). Retrieved from https://mailchimp.com/help/best-practices-for-email-subject-lines/
The Art of Communication (2008). Retrieved from http://www.marquette.edu/hr/documents/the-art-of-communication.pdf
To Safeguard Your Email. (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.diproductsite.com/security_microsite/fraudprevention.html
McCrea, B. (2015, September 10). Implementing Email Usage in the Workplace. Retrieved from https://precast.org/2015/09/implementing-email-usage-policies-in-the-workplace/
