Cluttered inboxes and spam are not the only reasons professionals waste time on email, says Kyla Rozman, a professional organizer with In Order to Succeed in Vancouver. Another problem is the amount of time we spend composing our outgoing messages.
Remember that the email message is not a literary form. It should convey an idea, ask a question or provide salient information such as an appointment confirmation. It should not take more than a few minutes to write — or to read.
Rozman provides three suggestions to help you quickly compose concise, to-the-point email messages:
> Keep it short
Emails should be quick notes, not meandering essays. Too many emails look like long letters. Writing lengthy missives takes valuable time, and so does reading them. And long emails are more difficult for the recipient to understand.
Your clients, prospects and colleagues do not have time to search through a long message to find out what you are asking, Rozman says. In fact, it is likely the reader has only taken in 50% of what you have sent him or her.
By composing a more focused email message, you will save time for yourself and for the recipient. And you are more likely to receive the response you need, as the purpose of your email will be easy to find.
If you must go into detail, format key questions or ideas in bold type.
> Use accurate and clear subject lines
Few professionals understand the importance of a proper subject line, Rozman says.
The best subject lines are those that make the individual message easy to find using a search function. For example, if you label all emails concerning projects as “project,” it will be difficult to locate an individual message through a search.
Also, keep in mind that the subject of an email exchange can change as the conversation evolves. If you want your emails to be easily searchable, the subject line should reflect the current topic.
For instance, you emailed your assistant about the day’s appointments but you added a question about an upcoming client- appreciation event. That event became the focus of the following exchange of messages within the same thread. Change the subject heading from ” today’s appointments” to “next month’s client event.”
> Create templates
If you find yourself sending essentially the same email on a regular basis, why not create a sample draft that can be re-used?
For example, if you normally send out a confirmation email and directions to your office to prospects prior to an initial meeting, create a template. You will just have to personalize the greeting and insert details such as the appointment time.
One way to create a template is to save the text in your “drafts” folder and paste that text into a new message when you need it.
Rozman uses AText, a program designed for Mac computers. AText is an inexpensive application that produces a template after you simply type a few letters.
For example, if you want to inform new prospects and clients about your office location, you would save your description in AText under the word “street.” The next time you type “street” into your email, your directions will appear.
This is the final instalment in a four-part series on email management.