Effective Emailing

M.SUKUMAR M.Tech - HRD Semester 2 Soft Skills 1

Layout
What is E-mail How to Make an Effective E-Mail Few common email habits that cause problems Structure of E-Mail Style Some other important aspects Discussion

What is E-Mail
Text-based mail sent via the computer from one person to another A Push Technology It waits for You It is One-to-Many and almost Free

How to Make an Effective E-mail

Selecting Your Audience Correctly Using Distribution Lists Composing Your Messages
Make the heading meaningful Keep each message short and clear. Start each message by stating its purpose/context
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Few common e-mail habits that cause problems

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Changing the topic without changing the subject. Including multiple subjects Misaddressed recipients Displaying addresses of recipients who are strangers to each other Replying vs. forwarding
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Structure of E-Mail
Addressing Subject Message Text Attachments Signature

1. Addressing
Its the address of the recipient Use BCC to protect Email addresses unless everyone knows each other Maintain address book

2. Subject
Precise headline for the message Makes easier to handle of e-MAIL Avoid sending e-mail with No subject

Ineffective subject lines

Subject: Hi questions Date: 9:17 am 10:11 am

Meeting
One more thing........... Some thoughts

12:44 pm
3:02 pm 4:21pm

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Effective subject lines

Subject: Party planning meeting rescheduled for 3pm Help: I cant find the draft for the Smith Paper Date: 9:17 am 10:11 am

Reminder: peer-review articles due tomorrow (3/30)

Questions about Sociology 210 project Congratulations to Jennifer for winning Nobel Prize

12:44 pm
3:02 pm 4:21pm

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Subject: Re: Question about Smith paper (was: please help with this!)
Change subject lines when necessary

Date: 10:11 am

Subject: Re: Re: Re: [Fwd: [Fwd: [hrfac] Reminder: Deadline for Spring Semester Is Jan. 15]]

Date: 9:17 am

Remove extra email prefixes

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3. Message Text
Keep the message focused and readable Keep it short Brevity and clarity Use paragraphs Break into paragraphs; skip lines between Avoid fancy typefaces

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Message Text ( cont. )

Use * * to highlight text if you must Write in standard professional English with Capitalization and correct spelling Quote back using contexts Identify yourself clearly to cold contacts. Hello, I amThe reason I am writing Hello, so-in-so suggested I contact you
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Poor Email Content

Jon, Hey, I was just thinking about the meeting we had about the new workshop you were planning for next week about resume-writing. I think that we may have forgotten to include all of the students who might benefit from this workshop. There are several groups of students at the School of Public Health that were not on your list. Of course you may have added them to you list since our last meeting. Sara from the School of Public Health contacted me to ask if the students from the Epidemiology program were on our list of included students. She also wanted a list of all of the included departments from the School of Public Health. Can you send me a list of all of the included student groups? I can then send the relevant information on to Sara because she needs this information by tomorrow. Thanks, Rachell

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Better Email Content

Jon, Can you send me a list of the students included in the resume-writing workshop by tomorrow? We may have forgotten to include all of the students who might benefit from this workshop. There are several groups of students at the School of Public Health that were not on your list. Sara from the School of Public Health contacted me to ask if the students from the Epidemiology program were on our list. I will send her that information tomorrow after I get the list from you. Thanks, Rachell
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4. Attachments
Use sparingly. Cut and paste relevant parts of attachment into text of Email. Use URL links instead. Upload attachments to website and cite URL. http://www.scribd.com/ is a free service.

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5. E-mail Signature
Use an appropriate signature Brief (4-5 lines) Informative provide all contact information Professional do not include pictures, quotes, animations

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Style
Threads Multiple replies can get out of hand, but continue them to maintain the tread. When they start to drift start a new thread with explanation. Forwarding stuff, e.g., chain letters Avoid; annoys most people Wait 24 hours Write, but dont send Dont reply at all and let them wonder

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Style (contd.)
Offer to speak by phone or in person; Email is not a good tool for clearing the air. Never say in Email what you wouldnt say in person or would not like to see in the press or defend in court Once you hit Send you have lost control of the Email You can never be certain that it was erased from all locations. Think of all Email as Permanent.

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Some other important aspects

Confidentiality and Security Managing Emails ( E-mail overload Management )

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Confidentiality and Security

Protecting yourself Unencrypted Email is not secure and may be monitored All laws governing copyright, defamation, discrimination and other forms of written communication also apply to email. Password recovery methods Never include personal or financial info in an Email Install a good security suite on your personal computer Use strong passwords
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Confidentiality and Secuity (contd.)

Use encryption and digital signatures for important Email Have a separate free Email account for newsletters, white paper registration, etc. Delete browser history, cache, cookies, userids and passwords after using a public Internet connection Back up your Email.

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E-Mail Overload Management

A problem that affects nearly everyone with an email account Automated filters will never catch all of the spam Problems from E-mail Overload Takes longer to find a specific message Stressful to look at

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 Ways to manage E-mail Overload Choose your service provider wisely Do Inbox CHECK on a regular basis Organize Email into folders Keep a copy of all sent Email Review and clean out folders periodically

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Letter Example

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Letter Example-Email Format

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Now days Email are using Emotions icons

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Now days Email are using Emotions icons

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Now days Email are using Emotions icons

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Discussion
Questions and Comments?

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