Category: Administrative Skills

I thought I had concluded this series but then received a helpful article from 'Boomerang for Gmail'. I referred to this service last time. You can join here. The article made interesting reading so I am adding an appendix to my series. How to get a response They provided some interesting statistics which are well worth reading. On the basis of analysing millions of emails (I think) they have produced a list of 7 useful points about how to get a response to your emails. Being statistical these are not rules and may not apply to you, but they are worth considering. I give the summary here but suggest you look at the full article: Use shorter sentences with simpler words. 3rd grade reading level works best. Gave 53% response; higher than…

Last time we saw the importance of being in control, not letting emails dictate your priorities. On reading it a friend kindly sent me details of Boomerang (for Gmail), which allows you to schedule messages to be sent or returned at a later date. This looks a really helpful app and may be particularly applicable to what follows in this posting. I have not yet had the chance to explore it thoroughly so you will have to do your own discovery! So, in this final part we are considering how to order emails. 9. How full is your inbox? Many people’s inboxes contain hundreds of emails. Some are awaiting a response, others are there because you cannot decide how to respond. Yet others have just been left there and not filed. Having a ‘full’ inbox leads…

I have so far given you 7 tips for writing emails: Have separate email addresses for social and business communication Make the subject line work for you. Think carefully about how you word it Be as brief as possible without losing necessary content Make reading your emails a pleasant experience Proof read the email before sending it Don’t use emails for contentious issues if possible. If it is necessary don’t be hasty – build in a cooling off period Respond to emails containing several topics either by numbering or ‘interlinearly’ Lets now turn to managing them. 8. When do you deal with emails? Managing emails begins with self-discipline. Are you intentional about how you use your time or do you let life and emails come at you? We all have times…

So far I have given you four tips for writing effective emails: Have separate email addresses for social and business communication Make the subject line work for you. Think carefully about how you word it Be as brief as possible without losing necessary content Make reading your emails a pleasant experience Now, here are three more which will help you be interact thoughtfully with your reader 5. Proof read Badly spellt emales, bad use of punctuation; or the useof abreviations, comunicates something about U. They imply UR a bit slapdash and so make the reader take the email/you unseriously!!!! Checking (proof reading) is important. Make sure the information is accurate and well expressed. Abbreviations may be acceptable but make sure they are clearly understood. For instance, does lol mean ‘laugh out…

Writing emails Continuing the section on writing emails it is self evident that you are writing them so that they are read. How can you help your reader? 2. Subject line If I receive an email I want to know what it is about; ‘Hi!’ is not a very helpful subject line. Give the topic or, if more than one, list them 1…. 2…. Consider whether you can get the whole message into the subject line eg “Can you give me an update on the schedule you are preparing?” It may not be necessary to put any text in the body of the email and you will (hopefully!) get a quick reply. Tip 2 Make the subject line work for you. Think carefully about how you word it. 3. Less…