The three "must-do" email communication secrets

We have plenty of emails flying into our lives everyday. It's like Chinese Water Torture. Bling, in comes an email. We read it, then go back to what we were doing. Bling, another email. And so on.

Here are three important secrets to communicating via email:

1) Make sure your communication is clear enough that it doesn't require another email to clarify. Too often, an email comes in stating merely, "Had an interesting discussion with Rhames. He needs to change the schedule." What does that mean? Was it a good or bad "interesting" discussion? What is the new schedule? Will we be able to meet it? Clarify, clarify, clarify.

2) Write it with the understanding that anyone--I mean anyone--could read it. Any derogatory or negative statement you write may end up on the screen of someone not intended to read it.

3) No mass emails. Sure there are going to be a few now and then, but I've done research on this. There are people who receive numerous mass emails and there are others in the same position who almost never do. If you help propagate mass emails, they will come back to you. If you never respond en mass to them, they will almost never come back. Respond one-on-one unless necessary.

We have too much going on to increase the interference and confusion in our business lives.


Barry LaBov
LaBov & Beyond
www.labov.com