Writing a business email has two parts to it, conveying the right message and the right emotion. Some tips as below:
Avoid negative words /Connotations in the email
When communicating with the top management / larger team please avoid negative words / connotations like “Cannot”, “Impossible / not possible”, “Not good”, “Frustrated” etc… instead use alternate words like “will try”, “will look at alternate solutions”, “can be better” etc…
Always do a spellcheck before hitting Send
Ensure you do a spellcheck before hitting “Send” to avoid errors. Too many spell errors can dilute the message you want to convey
Know the difference between “Important” and “Urgent” scenarios
What is important need not be Urgent. If it requires immediate action then mark it as Urgent. So be careful to mark an email accordingly. Avoid marking all emails as Important or Urgent to avoid getting lost in the queue
Make subject line short and effective
Keep the subject line as much short as possible but effectively conveying the message when drafting a new email. For example when you want to send out Project status have Subject line something like “XYZ Project Status -Q1/Q2/Q3”. In case you want to send out leave request then make Subject line something like “Reg Vacation – Dec 1st – 10th 2018″. In short, be specific and add qualifier like “Important” or “Urgent” depending on the message scenario
Avoid long emails and emoticons
If you know what you want to convey then you need to phrase it well. Avoid longer sentences. In addition, emoticons like a Smiley can be very condescending when trying to win an argument or being assertive at a personal level. So avoid them unless it is genuine appreciation or positive frame of mind
Use Dictionary Wisely
In an urge to look good in front of your client or manger, avoid using vocabulary / uncommon words that might convey different meaning at a different cultural context. For example in certain American Dialects “I Lied” is an informal way of saying “I was wrong”. However, in different cultural set up like India / UK / Japan the meaning it conveys is very negative. So avoid using such words.
Overall, an email communication must not just sound like a monologue rather it should be conversational in nature and avoid leaving a bad taste after reading the email. In Short, words written are engraved in Holy Grail but words spoken aredistorted in time
Learn more about communication in Technological age here & express yourself better looking at this! And look at how our own TCS evaluates email writing test
The Editorial Team
Teamware Solutions
