In most organisations, more emails are received daily as opposed to letters. As with business letters, business emails should always maintain that decorum. The email represents the company. This means the recipient will form an impression of the company. Within the company, the email represents your work.The tone must always be respectful while being informal. The format should be A1 which means the document should be well presented with no grammatical or spelling errors.
A very important point of any written communication whether it is a business letter, email, fax or memo is for the reader to understand what you write, ideally at the first reading.
Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net and author renjith krishnan
Email Communication
As emails are instantaneous, communication may not be carefully planned as with other forms of written communication where you will take more time. It is important that the email is not misunderstood.
The subject needs careful thought as it is very important. Normally, this will greatly assist the recipient in prioritising the email effectively between read now, read later.
Remember the email is business communication so avoid using text language such as LOL, IMHO, BTW, XX etc.
Always mention in the message if you are attaching a document as they are often blocked by firewalls or storage systems.
Image courtesy of freeidgitalphotos.net and author renjith krishnan
Avoid using other programmes with attachments as the recipient may not have the necessary software in order to open and read them. It is different if the email is sent to a company as they will have the necessary software.
Avoid having your entire message in capitals. The reader may be affronted and interpret it as you are shouting at them.
Email messages are short. You should care should be taken that it does not sound sharp so, ideally, have an introductory and closing paragraphs. This helps greatly with the tone.
Find out about PA Training Courses at PA Training in London
Leave A Comment