What makes emails ineffective, and even insulting

Flickr user Biscarotte

(MoneyWatch) Anyone who has sent an impulsive, emotional email to a co-worker or (worse) a manager knows the danger that email poses. It's both immediate and impersonal, since you can say things in a written message that are harder to to say face-to-face. Worse, like a missile fired at its target, once you turn the key you can't recall it. And your emails don't even have to be intentionally acerbic to do damage.

As tech site MakeUseOf recently pointed out, there all sorts of subtle ways you can make your recipients angry whenever you send an email, to wit:

You send a two-word email. I used to joke that a former editor wrote such short emails that he would leave out all the vowels. Although succinct message are good, don't be so terse (excuse me, trs) that your message ends up being confusing or ambiguous. For instance, a friend recently asked her manager if he would prefer option A or option B. It was an either-or question -- he answered "yes." Use complete sentences, and provide enough context so your email makes sense.

How to craft an email that gets a reply
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You write a short novel. The opposite of the spectrum is when you write such long emails that it feels like you're slogging through a Neal Stephenson novel to get to heart of the message. For these people, my advice is simple: Write less. But if you have trouble making your emails a length that humans want to read, follow the strategy called "BLUF" -- put the Bottom Line Up Front. First answer the question, ask the question or address up high whatever it is your email is about. And only then add any additional context.

You use dramatic adverbs. We're all guilty of this occasionally, but the sad thing is that it's the easiest email sin to fix. It's all a matter of counting to 10, re-reading your email and making sure that you leech the emotion out of your email before you click send. Read your message and look for trigger words that add emotional color to what should be clinical business conversations. "Your plan is painfully vague" is likely to anger the plan's author. Delete the adverb, though, and your criticism that the plan is vague is easier to swallow and more likely to be handled professionally without saddling you with a reputation as an email bomb thrower.

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Biscarotte

[jsargent100]

I think that you should consider several things:
-Whether people have time to read your email.
-Consider who your target audience is and pick your "to" and "cc" fields carfully.
-Never use "bcc" (that's for the back-stabbers)
-Keep it to a minimum but don't assume that all readers are aware of all the issues.(They are not mind readers.)
-Always use the "subject" field and when the issue changes use a different subject to start a new thread.
-Always include the whole thread of the conversation and don't remove parts so that readers can always have easy access to the history of the thread.
-Always be civil in an email even though others may not always be. Remember that your communications are recorded in that email and remain forever somewhere in the system. Also others can selectively copy parts and forward it to others.

[nurse_goodbody]

I rarely use bcc but when I do it's certainly not for stabbing backs. I don't see how bcc is for backstabbing. Doesn't that sound a little extreme?

If there is any backstabbing feature of e-mail to me, it is the blasted "Request a Delivery Receipt" or "Request a Read Receipt." Who has the time or desire to know if I read an e-mail they sent me? I envision someone with a checklist marking me off the list - 'she read it!' And those poor saps who didn't read the e-mail get what exactly? A thousand lashes? It comes across as controlling. There may have been a time in the past when e-mails frequently went to e-mail heaven and were never delivered but it's a rare occurrence today. Maybe it's just me.

[jsargent100]

Too short from directors? What? You can't read their minds?

[mld1979]

I rather like KISS for most things, including email. Keep things simple--make your point, add details and/or justification as necessary, based on your recipients.

[ycdbsoya]

Emails rife with grammar goofs, misspellings and typos drive away better-educated people--often the ones whom such writers hope most to impress.

One or two flubs per email is an excusable number. We're there for business functionality, not a proofreading class.

But too many errors makes me think the person isn't paying attention, is rebelliously saying s/he doesn't care, won't take time to do it better, or isn't educable.

(All copy editing to the above graciously accepted!)

[stephenbooth_uk]

I think you get the too short from directors because they can get away with it and want to show how busy they are, junior staff send long emails because they need to cover their backs.

[nurse_goodbody]

Spot on Mr. Booth, spot on.

[DKlos]

Too short or too long, people seem to struggle with style. Go with medium length if you don't know the person very well. The better you know someone the shorter it can be because you're more in synch with people you know. Also, I find it more than frustrating to get a very short and incomplete statement from someone just because they're writing from a smart phone.

[Osprey4]

Not sure if this is true everywhere, but I tend to get the "too short" variety from directors and above, and the novels from junior staff (especially those making an effort to impress management).