Brenda Eckstein International

Strategy, Leadership, Integral Coaching and Communication consulting

  • Welcome
  • About Us
    • Brenda
    • Clients
  • Services
    • Strategy
    • Leadership Development
    • Training
    • Executive Coach
    • Speaker
    • Author
    • Conference Services
  • EYES Publishing
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • Contact Us
  • Welcome
  • About Us
    • Brenda
    • Clients
  • Services
    • Strategy
    • Leadership Development
    • Training
    • Executive Coach
    • Speaker
    • Author
    • Conference Services
  • EYES Publishing
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • Contact Us

E-mail etiquette and effectiveness

July 26, 2012 by Brenda Leave a Comment

In order to portray a professional image and get the message across clearly, business e-mails need to conform to certain professional parameters.  During our workshops, in ‘groupwork’, delegates develop their own sets of ‘tips’ on e-mail etiquette and effectiveness.  Below are the consolidated points from our most recent workshops: 

  1. Write a specific, descriptive subject line which captures the essence of the topic.
  2. Cover only one topic in an e-mail.  This makes the ‘trail’ clearer when others try to follow the evolving conversation (including responses).
  3. To protect the privacy of recipients, when you are sending to an ‘external’ group, put all the recipients’ addresses in BCC.  This way others won’t be able to pick up a list of e-mail addresses.  (Thus you are protecting their privacy.)
  4. However, where sending business or private messages, don’t try to be clever by copying another recipient using BCC.  That is sneaky!  Let the recipient see who has been copied on the message.
  5. Never provide e-mail addresses to others without first getting the approval of those whose contact details you are sharing.
  6. Use business language.  Avoid SMS language, slang or language which seems unprofessional or could offend the recipient.
  7. Keep the message as short as possible and ‘to the point’. We don’t have time to read long messages.  Many people read the messages on their phones where the screens are small and it is irritating when messages are long.
  8. Use a standard type of font (e.g. Arial) in a chosen size (e.g. 12) and use a single colour for all fonts. 
  9. Punctuate correctly and use correct grammar.
  10. Make sure that you have used ‘spellcheck’ before sending.
  11. Consider layout carefully.  Make the message easy to read.
  12. If your message needs a response, indicate by when you’d like the response.  (Please reply by…..)
  13. Take care in wording the message as the tone and context can be easily mis-read or misunderstood. 
  14. Reply to all messages from individuals so that they know you have received the message.  It can be as simple as ‘Thank you for your message.’
  15. Where there is an attachment, mention this in the body of the message.  In some cases people don’t notice that there is an attachment or they may be suspicious of attachments and not open them.
  16. Don’t send unnecessary e-mails. 
  17. Copy only those who need to see that specific e-mail.
  18. Check your ‘signature’. Does it contain all the wording on your business card, including the e-mail address?  Many people ‘copy and paste’ this information to insert into their ‘contacts’.
  19. Consider carefully whether you want logos and other images in the body of your e-mail.  These may be rejected by recipients ‘servers’.
  20. Where you are sending a bulk message, consider whether there is more chance of your recipients receiving the message as an attachment, or in the body of the e-mail.
  21. Statistics show that the day on which bulk e-mails are most likely to be read by recipients is a Tuesday. So where possible, send on that day.   Mondays people are starting a new week and don’t pay much attention to e-mails which they consider unnecessary.  Towards the end of the week people are trying to complete their work before the weekend.
  22. Do not mark as urgent or set the ‘priority’ for your recipients.  It is not polite to presume that your message is important for the person receiving the message.
  23. Do not send inappropriate content.
  24. E-mail sensitive or confidential information only after checking with recipients. (They may not wish to have it sent by e-mail, may want the document password protected, or sent to their private addresses.) 

For more information on our communication skills workshops please contact me brenda@146.66.90.172,  Phone: +27 33 3425432, Mobile: + 27 82 4993311.

The Power of Caring and Sharing

January 24, 2012 by Brenda 2 Comments

Most of us are inundated by e-mails and we may regard our unwanted messages as ‘time stealers’.  However, we appreciate those that enable us to function more efficiently in our business or private lives. These are important. We also enjoy receiving others because they share something special with us.  It might be a photo of a friend’s child’s first day at school or a grand-daughter wearing her new glasses.  It could be a message or newsletter giving us a glimpse of friends lives. Or it could be another personal message that we are delighted to receive. 

And occasionally – just sometimes we receive an unexpected message that truly enriches our lives. Let me tell you a story.  I’m part of a coaching group and my ‘class mates’ know I’m passionate about sunrise and the changing light at sunset.  These experiences are what I call ‘touchstones’.  

Every now and then, one of the class members will send me an e-mail with a photo and this is so easy to do from their phones.  I just love those e-mails.  Some-one has cared enough to ‘take action’ and let me know in a positive way that they are thinking about me.  That is truly powerful.

There have been many of these thoughtful messages and I’m grateful for every single one.   For example, Pam sent me a beautiful photo of sunrise with the message ‘I thought of you when I was driving to work this morning and took this photo’.  This week, Guy sent me the photo below with ‘Brenda, I thought of you and took this picture.’

This ‘cares for my soul’.  By the way, if you haven’t yet read Thomas Moore’s ‘Care of the Soul:  a guide for cultivating depth and sacredness in everyday life’, you’ll be doing yourself a favour if you order a copy and read it.

With one of the clients I’m coaching at present, as a distinction, we used a picture of blue sky, mountains and trees and then a busy river with logs and lumberjacks at the bottom of the photo. These were all metaphors for different aspects of his life.  Over the 6 months of our coaching sessions he has done exceptionally well in establishing new habits and enriching his life.  Recently, in the KZN midlands where we live, he moved home and told me about the new view from his veranda.  Yesterday I received this photo from him and was so very thrilled that he had thought of sharing.

His message was simple, but powerful:

Hi Brenda, 

This is my view every day from my veranda. 

Sky, trees & hills, "small" water. 

Regards, Gary 

This spontaneous message is also one of the best e-mails I have ever received.   It shows me a beautiful scene, one of great peace, and helps me to visualise his new life in context.  This ‘picture’ fits so well with our distinction and ‘future narrative’ in our coaching.  So, he has turned many ‘stumbling blocks’ into ‘stepping stones’ and I’m so happy for him.

So, what is my message to you?  There is great power in sharing. And I’m not talking about group messages.   Let people know individually you care and that you are thinking of them, in a way that ‘touches their souls’.  You’ll be enriching their lives and yours as well. 

You may wish to do the exercise below: 

1.  Calculate roughly how many e-mail messages you have received over the last week.  (You don’t have to be exact.) 

  •        How many of them have meant a great deal to you personally?
  •        What is it about those messages that have made you feel good?

You’ll most probably find that the percentage of meaningful messages you received is low.

2. Then reflect on:

  • How many individual messages (not group messages) have you sent where you have let some-one know sincerely that you thought of them in a special way?
  • Right now, look around you.  Who could you take a photo for?  Continue looking over the next few hours – or even days – until you find something that will mean a great deal to that person.  Send it to them with a message that will ‘touch their souls’.  The message can be very short – see the examples above.

Take action!  Tell others that you care.  Share in a personally meaningful way and you will be enriching the lives of others. You’ll also be building stronger relationships. 

You are welcome to share your stories with me – brenda@146.66.90.172  I look forward to hearing from you.  Thank you!

Latest articles

  • Countdown to 2022
  • Positive Relationships: 2021
  • How do I deal with imperfection?
  • Finding freedom
  • How to streamline your life

Recent Posts

  • Countdown to 2022
  • Positive Relationships: 2021
  • How do I deal with imperfection?
  • Finding freedom
  • How to streamline your life

Blog Categories

  • Business Consulting
  • Coaching
  • Communication Skills Training
  • Customer Service
  • Keynotes
  • Leadership Development
  • Personal Networking
  • Strategy

Search this website

Contact Brenda

Phone:+27 (0)33 342 5432
Fax:+27 (0)86 5188 205
Mobile:+27 (0)82 499 3311
E-mail:brenda@strategy-leadership.com

Login

Login here

Copyright © 2023 · Brenda Eckstein International, Phone: +27 (0)82 499 3311, Email: brenda@strategy-leadership.com · Website by OrganicWeb