This post has been pending for a long time now. If you recollect, I had previously posted a series of posts on Personal Branding (Make your Out-of-Office work for you, BRAND YOU !, Business Cards- Do they say what you want to?, Do you need to build a personal brand ?, Whom to follow on Twitter ?, Brand YOU: Are you Managing your Manager?). Sadly I lost these posts during some upgrade I attempted. will try and reproduce them soon
Now, I attempt to draw your attention to a very simple communication tool, used by most modern day professionals, yet ignored. It is the most powerful personal branding tool you have. From the title of the post you would know I am referring to ‘Email’. Yes, the very email that you, me and everybody uses to correspond with each other. Now, you would all agree that everything we do and don’t do which builds a perception about us is ‘personal branding’. When we send an email what type of ‘branding’ are we doing? What type of email style are we following?
- Embedded Technology Specialist: I have already written about this style of email response. It is very common and often used. Titled – Embedded Technology in Emails, I will reproduce it soon
- Epic writers: The writers of these emails consider themselves Homer or even Vedavyasa (not me, but the great sage and author of the longest epic-Mahabharata). Be prepared to press ‘page down’ many times over. The saga will go on. This style of email has complex combinations of ‘embedded technology’ and ‘Convince or Convince’ and requires much effort from both the author and the recipient. This style is usually employed by youngsters and over-eager professionals who want to convey everything in the email. This also occurs when one does not make the right choice between what to discus in person (or on phone) and what to put on email.
- Top Management style: Short. To the point. Crisp. Gives direction. These are the hallmark of smart top management folks. Why use 10 words when you can say it in 5. I have been particularly impressed with a few email responses from some of the senior folks I have encountered. But, all emails and all of sue cannot follow this style (unless of course we are actually TOP Management). This style though is something one should try and achieve. Discussions are meant to be in person or on phone. Emails are meant to convey and communicate. Most of us do it the other way around? Be warned though-such emails could also be perceived as arrogant and rude.
- Convince or Confuse: Say a lot without saying anything. We would encounter this usually in conversations but there are a few who have taken this art to email too. From the start of the email to the end you get nothing, no commitment, no confirmation. What you get is a roller coaster of a story. This type of email is often used intentionally when biding for time or having no definite answer to give. With some it is an art so every email ends up following this style.
- ‘Don’t care’ master: I really don’t care. I have said what I want to say. The entire email, its formatting, language, tone of voice all point to this one primary attitude. You will not come across this style in most professional organizations. If you do come across one, save that email. It is exactly what you must not do.
- Mark the world: This style involves having multiple recipients in the ‘To’, ‘CC’ and ‘BCC’ fields. The writer must be employing some complex algorithm to decide on these recipients, because the recipients for sure cannot figure who is supposed to act on the email and for whose information only it is. Conventionally the person in ‘TO’ has to act. The person in ‘CC’ is for information sake and could respond too. Person in CC’ is meant to view the email as pure information and consider it confidential to some extent.
- 7. The perfect email: Okay. Here is the secret. There is no perfect email style. Email like any other communication tool needs to achieve its objective of communicating desired message to recipient. Since once you send an email there is nothing you can do about it (recall message does not work all the time. Time bound emails are not yet common). So, take care before you click on the ‘send’ button. The easiest method I employ is –read the email once after you finish typing it.
Since there is no formula to a perfect email here is what I try and do. I have developed a series of questions which help me with my email response. I do not keep this like a checklist whenever I email somebody but ensure these questions are followed when writing important emails.
- Does the email have two positives and one negative? Nobody likes negative news/emails
- Am I following the ‘TO’, ‘CC’ and ‘BCC’ rule described above
- Am I aware of my recipient? If your recipient is action oriented then a crisp to the point email may make more sense.
- Would I like receiving such an email? Do onto others what you would do onto yourself.
- Have I put in short forms and spelling errors? Avoid them at all costs. Trust your spell checker but not entirely.
- How many pages downs? Lesser the number of page downs, the better. Anything detailed can go into attachments
- Is the recipient on Blackberry? better keep the mail simple and color/graphic free for easy reading
I must confess, this is an ongoing journey and I am far away from consistently writing effective emails.
