Gadget Republic

Business communication has really come a long way since the Pen-Paper-Envelope era of yesteryear, and so has the content and way in which we communicate. E-mail communication has become dominant after the decline of the facsimile, or shall we say,the facsimile became obsolete after the e-mail. Why shouldn't it? 

Never has communication been so quick or so flexible,many of us just haven't mastered the art of writing, resulting in our mails ending up in that despised recycle bin. 

So how does one grasp the holy grail of the ''unrecyclable'' e-mail? Simple! With better workplace etiquette.Instead of writing terrible mails, stand out from the rest of the crowd by sending sharp and clear messages with these 7 tips:

1. Hone your subject line. The key is to be specific, not necessarily short. Instead of giving your e-mail the name “Parson's project,” call it “Parson's project: new deadline for phase 2.” Your e-mail is already more interesting than most.

2. Don’t bury the lead. If you want to annoy people, make them read three paragraphs before you get to the point. If you want to rise in the company, state your purpose in the first sentence or two and then get to the why and how of it.

3. End with an action request. Simple: “I will call you on Monday at 10 a.m. to follow up on this.” Or: “When can we get this done?” Otherwise, nothing is likely to happen.

4. Be human. Decent people who would never dream of being cold and abrupt in person often come off that way in their e-mails. Being businesslike doesn’t have to mean being impersonal. Remember that the sender and receiver are both human beings.

5. Proof your e-mail. It’s worth repeating. Just one misspelling, grammatical error, or typo makes you look foolish. It also makes you look disrespectful to the recipient. Sending clean e-mails automatically lifts you above the sloppy crowd.

6. Behave yourself. Irony doesn’t work in e-mails. Neither do sensitive subjects, such as sex, race, religion, and politics. Stay away from them, because every message you send is being judged.

7. Stop cc-ing everybody. All you’re doing is making all involved feel less important.

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