by Laura Camacho
You are surely familiar with email drama. Perhaps you got involved in one yourself, where the misinterpretation of a message, or one that got sent to the wrong person, spun off into a totally unproductive soap opera segment.
It’s good to remember that everything you write actually can be used against you, so here are a few tips to much better emails.
1. Think first.
Before you initiate a thread, carefully consider what you really want to communicate, what emotion you want to share, and the personality of your intended recipient. Make sure you wouldn’t do better by calling the person, or even sending a video message or voice mail. If you’re replying to an email, see if your reply really is necessary. Sometimes we get copied on messages that are only slightly relevant to us.
2. Edit.
Never hit “send” without re-reading your message at least once. Read it from the bottom up. Use spell check to give a more professional image. Even a simple message of “no” can be improved to “no and thank you for reaching out.”
3. Review emotional content.
If you’re feeling great, no worries. But, if you’re concerned or angry about something, even if it’s totally unrelated to the message, you’ll probably send negative emotional content without intending to do so. Don’t write email when you’re angry or even irritated.
4. Interpret with care
If you find yourself offended by an email, file it to look at again at a later time. Remember, everyone tends to be stressed and busy. Give the sender every benefit of the doubt. If you still feel bad, call the person, and ask him or her to explain more carefully the message.
Email is the number one channel for business communication. It’s worthwhile to invest in making your emails accurately reflect your brand.
Laura Camacho, MBA, PhD, PMP, is an executive coach, trainer and speaker who opened Mixonian Institute in 2009 to rid the world of boring business communication. She has created innovative training programs for local and international companies, related to leadership effectiveness, excellent feedback, growth mindset and emotional intelligence. Multilingual, Dr. Camacho’s career highlights include facilitating The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (in Spanish,) being editor of the leading management newsletter in Venezuela. For 10 years she taught communication classes at ECU and College of Charleston. www.mixonian.com
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