Page 209 - An Indispensible Resource for Being a Credible Activist

● If you are ever unsure of what kinds of e-mails your supervisor, coworkers, and
management staff want or need, simply ask them.
● If you receive an e-mail you think you should not have received or you wish you
had not received, send a quick response to the sender or make a quick phone
call and leave a voice mail and nicely let the sender know. The communication is
enough; no need to lecture or add anything else. A quick e-mail might read,
“I don’t need the communication, only ______________does. Thank you.”

❱❱ PURPOSE OF COMMUNICATION/SUBJECT FIELD

Make sure your subject field accurately describes your e-mail topic. Good formats are as
follows:

● Report Attached—Date of Report
● Approval Requested for _________________
● Clarification Needed on _________________
● _____________ (Simply, the topic, if above don’t apply)
In addition:
● Be sure that when you reply to messages, if the subject changes to something else,
that you change the subject field.
● If your e-mail reply now contains another topic, be sure that you adjust the subject
field to include the new subject within the message.
● Try to limit yourself to one subject per e-mail, unless it is a report.

❱❱ LANGUAGE

When requesting approval, clarification, information, or action on something, use formal
language as opposed to casual or conversational language. When giving direction, clarifica-
tion, or making an announcement, use formal language as opposed to casual or conversa-
tional language as well, unless your corporate culture is specifically and officially more
relaxed about any of these.

❱❱ CLARITY

● When replying, include the entire e-mail to which you are responding or pertinent
parts of it as part of your response; this allows both you and the user to maintain
a complete record of the interaction.
● Try to be as clear as possible.
● Keep the emotional tone as clear as possible.
● Words can help: excited, concerned, thrilled, confused, hopeful, uncomfortable,
and so on.
● The e-mail should be able to stand on its own. Make sure all necessary information is
in one place, so if it needs to be pulled up in a month or two, all the important infor-
mation is there.

192 The H R Toolkit