Efficient, Effective

E-mail
Communication
Qualian Technologies Pvt. Ltd.
Chennai, India
[email protected]
www.qualiantech.com

Deepak
Kumar
June 2015

Agenda
Introductions
Objectives:
Effective communication
Effective EMAIL communication
MUSTs
DOs and DONTs

Ways to organize your EMAIL

Identifying 2 or 3 practices YOULL

make

Definition (American Heritage)

Communication (noun)
1. theactorprocessofcommunicating;
factofbeing communicated.
2. theimpartingorinterchangeofthoughts,
opinions,or informationbyspeech,
writing,orsigns.
3. somethingimparted,interchanged,
ortransmitted.
4. documentormessageimpartingnews,vi
ews,information, etc.

Communication takes place when one

person transfers some understandable
data to another person.

EFFECTIVE communication

Real-life / typical day

analysis
How do you communicate with
Colleagues?
Supervisors?
Partners?
Clients?

Do you have a preferred way of

communicating?

Communication preferences

Face-to-face
Phone
Business Letter or Print Memo
Email

Carnegie Mellon Study

Receive 30-50 e-mails per day

Immediately delete 29%
Check e-mail 12 times per day
Spend 2+ hrs. reading and
responding to e-mail
Keep 187 e-mails in their inbox
(Some in study with over 500!)

Survey of Business
Executives

Survey of MEGTEC as of
November 15, 2011

E-mail advantages

Fast
Cheap
Easy to use
Digital (saves paper)
Expands a businesses capability to
communicate with their customers

E-mail disadvantages
Digital divide
For legal reasons, some people need
original hard copies on letterhead
stationary, complete with signatures.
Some still PRINT emails
Not all email formats are made alike

Lets make sure the emails we do

write are effective means of
communication.

If we are going to use emails as our

main method of communication

We want to
1. Increase personal efficiency
2. Improve individual and corporate
professionalism
3. Protect yourself and your
organization from potential liability
issues

We want to
4. Create e-mails that will
be read by the receiver.
be understood by the receiver.
engage the receiver to achieve the
intended purpose.
not require too much time on the
part of the receiver.

Personal Ethics
As a communicator it is your
responsibility to be:
Honest
Clear
Accurate
Comprehensive
Accessible

Understanding the Writing Situation

Every instance of workplace writing occurs for a specific
reason and is intended for a particular individual or group...
Although this may seem obvious, awareness of purpose,
audience, and tone is the single most crucial factor in
determining whether your communication will succeed.
- George Searles

Three Main Principles

Purpose
Audience
Tone

Purpose
Overall design that governs what
writers do in their writing.
Reason why a writer will even sit
down to type an e-mail.
Specific subject and strategies writer
uses to communicate the subject most
effectively.
Should direct and control all the
decisions a writer makes.

Types of E-mail

Self Fulfilling
Inquiry
Open-Ended Dialog
Action

Self-Fulfilling
You tell the receiver something.
There is no reply.
Example:
Daughter is sick and will be out of the
office for the rest of the day.

Inquiry
You need something from the receiver.
The reply is the desired outcome.
Example:
Request of colleague as to whether
they achieved proper permissions to
move ahead on project from
marketing.

Open-Ended Dialog
You want to keep communication lines
open for future purposes.
Example:
Working schedule about a new
procedure or process.

Action
The goal is action on the part of the
receiver, not a reply.
Example:
Complete a particular form for HR and
send if you want to be a part of a new
wellness program.

Audience
Thoughtful and effective communication
requires a sensitive understanding of an
audience since the knowledge level and
expectations of those who need
information can vary widely.

- Nell Ann Pickett

Types of Audience
Category of Audience

Experts

Technicians

Characteristics

Advanced knowledge and skills. Handle theory

and practical application with ease.

Understand technical information.

Handle practical application with ease

Are educated to read and understand

information.
No practical application experience

No specialized education.
Not motivated to read information in entirety.

Professionals

Lay

Levels of Workplace Communication

Category of Communication
Upward

Lateral

Downward

Outward

Definition

Intended for those above you in the

workplace

Intended for those at your own

level in the workplace

Intended for those below you in the

workplace

Intended for those outside your

workplace

Audience Tendencies
We answer the e-mails that are the
fastest to answer and process
Our natural reaction is to close long
e-mails and come back to them.
When we receive an e-mail asking
something of us, we become guarded
and ask why should I care?

Audience perception
Think of perception as a you read
emails from:
Your supervisor
Your colleague
Your client
Your family member

Tone
Tone indicates your attitude as a
writer toward the subject and the
audience.
It is what you say and how you say it.
Inappropriate tone can cause your
reader to ignore, delete,
misinterpret, or overreact to your
message.

Setting the Right Tone

1. Use words carefully.
2. Choose an appropriate greeting and
closing.
3. Use personal pronouns.
4. Write in the active voice.
5. Order information to maintain a
professional tone.

Three Levels of Style decides

TONE
1. Informal Style
2. Semiformal Style
3. Formal Style

Guidelines for Writing Effective Emails

E-mail etiquette asks you to put your
readers needs first, especially when you
want the other person to do something
for you.
Mostpeopleknowroughlywhattheywant,but
donottaketimetoclearlythinkitthrough.Thisis
howweendupwithramblingemailourthoughts
aredisorganized,andwecaneasilyconfusethe
reader.

Writing Effective E-mails

Begin with the end in

mind.
Write a meaningful
subject line.
Identify yourself clearly
as if it were a face to
face introduction.
Be concise and to the
point.
Avoid attaching
unnecessary files.

In most cases, do not

leave out message
threads.
Dont assume privacy.
Respond promptly
Show respect and
restraint
Read your e-mail before
you send

What is the PURPOSE of the email?

Going back to the PURPOSE, what is
the PURPOSE of your email?
Response?
FYI?

Meaningful Subject Lines

DO
Department Meeting is cancelled
25 confirmedlarger room?
Dont
Leave the subject line blank
Important! Read NOW!
Quick Question

Vague subject terms to

avoid
- Hello
- Hey
- How are
you?
- Check this
out!
- Hmmm...

Question
Yes
No
Yo
A few thoughts
Thought of you

Writing Effective E-mails

3. Identify yourself clearly as if it were
a face to face introduction.
When contacting someone,
especially for the first time, always
include your
Name and Position
Purpose for Contact
Contact Information

Writing Effective E-mails

4. Be concise and to the point.
Let your receivers know right away
what you want or need from them.
Make it clear what action you expect
from them.
If no action is expected, state No
reply necessary.

Writing Effective E-mails

5. Avoid attaching unnecessary files.
You want to limit the steps
necessary for your receiver to act on
your message.

Attachments Require
Time to download
Space on the receivers computer
Complementary software on the
receivers computer.

Writing Effective E-mails

6. In most cases, do not leave out
message threads.
Receivers read multiple e-mails
every day and cannot possibly
remember what every e-mail was
about. Deleting threads causes the
receiver to spend extra time looking
for the original message to
reference.

Writing Effective E-mails

7. Dont assume privacy. E-mail is
not secure.
Praise in public, but criticize in
private.
Do not use e-mail to discuss
confidential information

Writing Effective E-mails

8. Respond promptly
Give the appearance of always being
available to your online
correspondents even if you cant
help them right away.

Writing Effective E-mails

9. Show respect and restraint
Dont forward or copy a message
without the permission of the original
sender.
Dont forward chain letters
Dont overuse reply to all
Dont send e-mail with offensive,
racist, or obscene remarks

Writing Effective E-mails

10. Read your e-mail before you send
it.
Errors in grammar and mechanics
cause your receiver to question
your authority and professionalism.
Make sure all questions have been
asked or answered and further
questions preempted.

Concise E-mail: Do
Number or bullet key points
Use active voice and tone
Divide substantial points into
separate messages so your receiver
can respond to them individually

Concise E-mail: Do
Write in plain English
Use standard grammar, spelling &
punctuation
Avoid long sentences
Use proper structure and layout

Concise E-mail: Dont

Write in all CAPITALS

Use distracting typefaces
Use text messaging abbreviations
Plain text dont assume HTML

Brevity is key!

Remember who your audience is.

Choose simple words.
Be polite and clear.
Make your message brief and direct by deleting
redundant words.
Choose strong, active verbs.
Concise writing equals effective communication.

Managing Your Inbox

1. Schedule a regular time to read,
organize, and respond to your
emails.

Managing Your Inbox

2. Use the Four Ds for Decision
Making Model
Delete it (29%)
Do it (2 minutes or less)
Delegate it
Defer it

Managing Your Inbox

3. Distinguish between reference and
action information
Reference: Not required to complete an action
but should be filed for later use
Action: Required to complete an action

Managing Your Inbox

4. Find a system for organization and
stick with it
Filters
Folders
Search Functions

Using Folders
Keep it Simple

Today/This Week
Reference/Action
Payroll
Personal
Pending or Follow-up
Projects
Classes

Managing Your Inbox

5. Pick up the phone or meet face-toface.
If your situation is going to take
multiple e-mails to resolve, call or
meet instead of e-mail.

Managing Your Inbox

6. Separate personal from work.
Give friends and family a separate email address and keep your work e-mail
strictly for business.
Dont send subscription e-mails to your
work address.

Wrap up .
Communication
MORE than email

Email can be an effective method of

communication
Purpose
Audience
Tone

Email Writing Exercises

Sending emails and letters

Signing off
Salutations
Yours sincerely/
Dear Mr/ Mrs/ Ms/
Yours
Miss Sita
Dear Sir/ Madam Yours faithfully
(With) Best
Dear Jay
wishes/ Kind
Hi Jags
regards
See you soon/
Hear from you
soon

Sending emails and letters

Opening phrases Closing Phrases
In reply to your
letter ... .
Thank you for
your letter of
May 14th
concerning .
Thanks for your
email ... .
Following our

Please contact me again if you

need any more information.
If I can be of any further
assistance, please do contact
me again.
Let me know if you need
anything else.
I look forward to hearing from
you.
Hear from you soon.
See you in Cairo.
Take care.

Reason for writing

This letter/ email is to ... .

I am writing to ... .
I am pleased to ... .
Id be pleased if you ... .
Could you please ... .
Would you please ... .
Please email me ... .
Just a quick note to ... .
I am sorry to inform you ... .
Unfortunately ... .
Im sorry about ... .
I apologize for ... .

Attaching and enclosing

documents
I attach ... .
I enclose ... .
Please find enclosed .

Email
Hello Karl
Just a quick note to confirm that Im coming to Bangalore
on May 5 and Ill stay there until May 7. I hope we can
meet to discuss our production requirements for next year.
Please let me know when it would suit you.
See you soon
Chris

Business letter
NewTech Ltd
21 Hitech city
Hyderabad, India
Mr Karl
Production manager, TSP Technologies
Georgenstrasse 132
Berlin 3287
Germany
Dear Mr Zorn
Re: Visit to Berlin
Further to our telephone conversation, I would like to confirm my
next visit to Berlin. I hope to be in Berlin on May 5, 6 and 7, and I
would be very pleased if we could meet to discuss our production
requirements for next year. Please let me know when it would be
convenient for you.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely

Rewrite the following extracts from

business letters as emails.
Dear Carol
Thank you for your letter of October 13. Unfortunately I wont
be able to attend your workshop in Stockholm. Could you please
send me some information on future workshops planned ...
Best regards
David Burns
Hi Carol
Thanks for your letter/ email. Im sorry but I wont be able to attend your
workshop in Stockholm. Please send/ email me some information on future
workshops planned...
Take care
David Burns

Rewrite the following extracts from

email as Business Letter (more formal)
Hi
Thanks for your email received last night. Sorry for the delay
in replying.
This email is to confirm we have reserved five single rooms
for Friday October 14 and 15.
See you in Venice.
Take care
Danielle Torri
Dear Mr ...
Thank you for your email received last night. I apologise for the delay in
replying.
I am pleased to confirm we have reserved five single rooms for Friday
October 14th and 15th.
We look forward to seeing you in Venice.
Best regards
Danielle Torri

Match the uses below with the phrases in

the table
Payments
Complaints Orders
Clarifications
Attachments Suggestions Apologizing Congratulations
Closings Openings
Meetings
Thanks
Requests
Uses:
We would like to offer our sincere apologies for the mistake
Apologies

Attached please find the documentAttachments

The document you have sent is not what we expected. There may
have been a misunderstanding between
us
Clarifications
I look forward to your replyClosings
Requests
Kindly send us the agreement draft

Payments
Complaints Orders
Clarifications
Attachments Suggestions Apologizing Congratulations
Closings Openings
Meetings
Thanks
Requests

We are very happy to receive a favorable replyThanks

from you

We are disappointed with the quality of your Complaints

service

Your order no. 6739w, dated 26 Dec 2011 has been shipped
today
Orders
Payments

Your payment on Order no. 6739w is due on 12th Jan 2012

Suggestions

Alternatively, you can directly contact out local office

Email Exercise
1. You are planning to go on a business trip. Write the details
below.

Where are you going? _______________________________________________

What is the purpose of your trip? _______________________________________

How long are you going to stay? ____________________________________________

Why are you going? ______________________________________________________

What is your itinerary (the places you will visit)?

_______________________________

Who will you meet? _______________________________________________________

How well do you know them? Have you written / spoken to / met them
before? ______________________________________________________

2. Write two e-mails, on separate sheets of paper, using

the situation you created in 1. The maximum length
for each e-mail is 100 words.
e-mail 1: Write to the person you are going to
meet. What do you need to tell them? Perhaps
you need to let them know what you want to discuss.
Do you want them to arrange anything for you?
e-mail 2: Write an e-mail to all your colleagues.
Tell them about your plans and ask them if they
want you to take / do / find out / bring back anything.

3. Work with a partner. Exchange e-mail 1,

and read each others situations from 1.
Ask and answer questions about your two
situations. In particular, talk about the kind
of reply your partner expects.
You will need this information in the next
activity.

4. Work individually.
Imagine that you are the person
your partner is going to meet.
Write a reply to your partners e-mail.
The maximum length for the e-mail is
100 words.

5. Exchange and read the e-mails.

THANK YOU
WWW.QUALIANTECH.COM