Communicate Like a Pro Using E-mail

What’s your communications reputation? Do people send you e-mails knowing you’re probably not going to respond…or are you a “super communicator” who makes a point of being extremely responsive? If you’re not in the latter group, or at least leaning that way, you may want to reexamine your communications style this year.

Consider the following strategies:

• Set aside a specific time or times a day to address e-mail. When you’re juggling e-mail with other job tasks, it’s easy for things to fall through the cracks.
• Keep your responses brief. If you don’t think that’s possible, maybe a phone call would be more efficient.
• Remember to “reply all,” or not. Consider whether a whole group needs to be privy to your response.
• Change subject lines appropriately. When the topic changes during the course of a series of e-mails, make sure the subject line reflects it.

Remember, e-mail can make you look good, and it can also tarnish your reputation. Don’t react emotionally, don’t reply quickly when some thought is required, and don’t use bad grammar or fail to spot typos…but do take pride in responding in a timely fashion to those who contact you via e-mail.