Do you frequently receive vaguley worded emails? Do you find that the emails you send out are often misunderstood or ignored? For tips on improving email communication at your nonprofit, check out TechSoup's article
14 Email Do's and Don'ts, which lists tactics for writing - and reading - emails effectively.
Do some of these tips ring true for you? Have additional advice to share? Email pet peeves you'd like to air? Let us know here.
Since no one has responded yet to this thread, I thought I would post my own two email pet peeves: "creative" backgrounds and fonts. While those features can be fun to experiment with, I think it's a guaranteed way to be taken less seriously in professional correspondence.
I'd also like to say that I absolutely HATE when people don't trim their email messages, especially if their email software adds all kinds of quotes and marks when they reply.
I will admit that I am addicted to my email... :-)
I'll chime in here with my biggest email pet peever: people who hit Reply All without thinking or even checking to see whether they know all the people they're replying to. When I'm emailing a group of folks who may not all know each other, I get around this by sending the email to myself and BCCing everyone else.
Also, to echo Willow's point, recieving an email with animated icons embedded is lame, lame, lame....
Something else to think about before you fire off an angry email:
The New York Times has an article on what is termed "
online disinhibition effect" (a.k.a. "flaming"), writing something online that you wouldn't say face-to-face.
"John Suler, a psychologist at Rider University in Lawrenceville, N.J., suggested that several psychological factors lead to online disinhibition: the anonymity of a Web pseudonym; invisibility to others; the time lag between sending an e-mail message and getting feedback; the exaggerated sense of self from being alone; and the lack of any online authority figure. Dr. Suler notes that disinhibition can be either benign — when a shy person feels free to open up online — or toxic, as in flaming."
Use the above link to read more about "the neural mechanics behind flaming."
Ok, I'll share my personal pet peeve -- one I didn't mention in the article. It's when you ask someone an either/or question and they answer with a simple "yes".
For instance:
Q: Do we use the blue cover sheets or the goldenrod coversheets on our TPS reports now?
A: Yes, that one.
:)
--Amit
Joined on 06-09-2003
Davenport, Iowa USA
Since we're on pet peeves, and I haven't figured out how to train users so this lesson sticks.
Email was never originally intended to send attachments, now that we can send attachments we still cannot sent that 100MB video file over email. We cannot send 10MB worth of attachments over email.
And that large email stuck in the outlook outbox bogs down the PC the network and the poor email server, that keeps rejecting the message because it's too big.
I just hope when they send the 5-6 MB emails the recipient isn't on dial up.
Dave
Joined on 11-23-2000
TechSoup Member
How about those folks who always request a receipt. I tell them once that I don't waste my time sending receipts and that all future requests will be ignored.
Joined on 07-28-2003
TechSoup Member
I find most people really do not know how to use all of the features that are built into the "modern mail client." As a result, they have all of their messages go into the home folder which they them allow to fill up to the point they start to ignore some messages.
That said, even for those of us who know how to make folders and use rules to sort mail, I admit to ocassionally being victim of the overfilled mail box.
So, what I was hoping to see in this article were some ideas on how to manage volume.
Personally, I use what I call the "spring cleaning" approach. That is, I get to a point, usually once every six months and then go on a rampage and sort, file and delete messages. Within two weeks, the box is filled back up.
You should see my apartment ;)
Any other suggestions other than getting an e-mail maid?
~j
Joined on 10-21-2004
TechSoup Member
I'm a writer, so I'm well suited to e mail and I rely on it a lot. I've built a cultural non-profit, in a rural area, and I'm convinced it wouldn't be possible without e mail.
I am amazed how often the e mails I receive are not only completely lacking in grammar, but cannot be read without translating what the person wrote into what they intended. But, when people don't bother to use spell check, I get VERY VERY frustrated.
Joined on 12-15-2005
TechSoup Member
So my next question stemming from this discussion is how does email etiquette tie into blackberry use and the feeling of being constantly connected and people wanting a reply ASAP, hence the reason for carrying a blackberry?
A Blackberry is also a mobile phone, SMS device, Web Browser and PIM (Personal Information Manager). I carry a Blackberry, but it's deffinately not for the reason that I feel a need to instantly reply to every Email I receive!!
I think this thread is as much about personal time management as it is about Email management - People who manage time well, also manage Email well...
Don
johnmacek,
Not sure if you've already tried this, but if you're using Outlook you can configure it to "never send a response" when someone requests an email read receipt.
To do it in Outlook 2003, go to Tools > Options, then on the Preferences tab select the "E-mail Options" button, then the "Tracking Options" button. You should see read receipt options below.
Hope that helps. Good luck,
--Amit
Colorful backgrounds and pictures are definitely my least favorite email thing... especially when you can't even read the text due to the dark blue, etc, background and have to highlight the whole thing.
My favorite thing are Good Subject Lines. I love it when I can actually tell what will be in the email from a well written subject line. Good to begin with, and good later if I decide to save the email.
I have a favorite pet peeve which is when you get mysteriously dropped into a long, monster-thread with absolutely no context and no call to action. You are then forced to wade through dozens of emails and try to decipher how you may vaguely fit into this situation. I would prefer (and I am not hinting to anyone in particular, yeah, right!) if there were an initial paragraph opener, synopsizing the issue beneath (in the thread) and explaining to me where I fit in and what is needed from me. It sure beats being just plopped into a cc: line and given a weak FYI... and then being sent out on your own to deal with the consequences and implications. (just noticed this was related to Amit's number 9 in the article. It happens all the time around here! :wink2;
But I got a million of them, so let me think onthis a little more and get back to you.