9- Stop sending sloppy emails.

As a young professional, you’ve probably already clicked the send button on thousands of emails. Sending email is an important communication tool in the professional world, it is important to shed bad habits and use it effectively. Similar to any other activity, you need to continuously upgrade and practice to perform at a higher level.

The first step in mastering email is to knowing when to send one and the second is knowing how to address it properly. In return for the time it takes you to read the next few paragraphs, I’ll show you how to do both!

Know when to send.

Is email the most efficient communication method to accomplish your goal? An unfortunate practice in the modern business world is to send an email instead of walking down the hall or picking up the phone and talking to the intended recipient. Before sending an email, ask yourself “Is email the best communication tool to use in this situation?” Never send an email when you could make a phone call instead. As you are reading this, I’m sure you are thinking, “But, I am too busy to make all those phone calls.” Before you stop reading, consider how often you send an email with a question in it. Eventually a reply finds its way to your inbox, often posing a return question to you. You might even exchange two or three email before the initial question is resolved. Most likely, this is because the other person didn’t really understand the question you were asking in the first email. This entire exchange may take place over hours or days, and in the interim, your question is still unanswered. As a rule, the more complicated the question, the more likely it is that you will be better able to communicate it verbally, as opposed to in writing. On the other hand, if you are directing a question or comment to more than one person, email may be the best way to communicate to all of the parties involved without having to schedule time for a future conference call or a face-to-face meeting.

Once you’ve decided to send an email, follow the tips below to send efficient, professional, emails.

Let’s revisit the basics. When sending email you have three choices when assigning the recipient: you can add to them to the To, Carbon copy (Cc), or Blind carbon copy (Bcc) field.

Use the To.

 When you want somebody to take action on the email you send, you should include them in the To field. Anyone in the To field should be able to answer at least one of the questions you are asking, or their job should be impacted directly by what you are communicating. This helps people reading your emails to gauge how much time they will need to read the email and helps you build a reputation for using email effectively.

This can also be  time savings hack for you.  As you grow in your career, you will find that your email inbox can get unwieldy very quickly. One way to cut down on the time spent sifting through email, besides liberal use of the unsubscribe button, is to make sure that people sending you email only use your address in the To field if they require action from you. Assuming that your colleague also uses the same email etiquette, you can set up a rule that unless the email coming into your inbox lists you in the To field it is pushed to a separate folder, which you can review when you have the opportunity. This will allow you to have more time to address the emails that require your action throughout the day.

Cc is free.

If you want somebody simply to have the information available and know what is going on, but no action is required from someone, you should add them only to the cc address box. Think of the Cc as an electronic way of saying For your information only (FYI). The best part about using Cc is that it is that unlike the US Postal Service, it is free to send an extra copy of your writing using a Cc. Do not be afraid to Cc your team on project emails, it can be an efficient way to keep everyone informed and provides a backup in the event your email service crashes.

Be wary of using the Bcc field

We’ve covered the two most common address fields, so what about the Bcc?

Use the Bcc sparingly.

Remember when you were in first grade, you teacher told your class, “Don’t talk behind someone’s back. If you have something to say, ask them to turn around.” Remember that advice because the stakes are higher in the business world than when you were behind the school desk. When you Bcc someone, you’re knowingly bringing a third person into the conversation and not giving the other people included on the email the courtesy of letting them know who else involved. In addition, no one in the Bcc field will receive any of the responses that you might get, so the use for this field is even more limited. In the context of a professional conversation, it is disrespectful and unprofessional.

Be clear about your Subject.

Have you ever seen an email in your inbox and wondered what it was about? Perhaps you scrolled to the bottom and started reading up to try and figure it out? Does the phrase “Re: Fwd: Re: Fwd: Fwd:” look familiar to you? Set yourself apart from your peers by writing email in a professional manner.

Include a short description of the email topic in the Subject field. Not using a clear subject is much like playing the game of “telephone” as a child. You whisper “Stan went to school on his birthday,” to the first person and by the time the telephone tree ends the content is significantly different, sounding more like “Sam skipped school on Saturday.” This might be a ridiculous example, but it is not far from reality when the email subject is not clear.

To prevent your friends, coworkers, and clients from misunderstanding your email, check that the Subject field clearly defines the topic of your email before sending it, and if it is not, use an updated subject line. This applies for new email as well as replies and forwards. This may involve re-writing the subject line several times during email exchanges about the same project. If so, that is okay. Each time you clearly state the subject you save time a fraction of the recipient’s time, as they know what the email is about before opening it and are prepared to address the topic.

Mastering these tips will help you send professional emails and take another step closer to becoming a star young professional.

What is your best email tip?