␡
- Management Reference Guide
- Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Strategic Management
- Establishing Goals, Objectives, and Strategies
- Aligning IT Goals with Corporate Business Goals
- Utilizing Effective Planning Techniques
- Developing Worthwhile Mission Statements
- Developing Worthwhile Vision Statements
- Instituting Practical Corporate Values
- Budgeting Considerations in an IT Environment
- Introduction to Conducting an Effective SWOT Analysis
- IT Governance and Disaster Recovery, Part One
- IT Governance and Disaster Recovery, Part Two
- Customer Management
- Identifying Key External Customers
- Identifying Key Internal Customers
- Negotiating with Customers and Suppliers—Part 1: An Introduction
- Negotiating With Customers and Suppliers—Part 2: Reaching Agreement
- Negotiating and Managing Realistic Customer Expectations
- Service Management
- Identifying Key Services for Business Users
- Service-Level Agreements That Really Work
- How IT Evolved into a Service Organization
- FAQs About Systems Management (SM)
- FAQs About Availability (AV)
- FAQs About Performance and Tuning (PT)
- FAQs About Service Desk (SD)
- FAQs About Change Management (CM)
- FAQs About Configuration Management (CF)
- FAQs About Capacity Planning (CP)
- FAQs About Network Management
- FAQs About Storage Management (SM)
- FAQs About Production Acceptance (PA)
- FAQs About Release Management (RM)
- FAQs About Disaster Recovery (DR)
- FAQs About Business Continuity (BC)
- FAQs About Security (SE)
- FAQs About Service Level Management (SL)
- FAQs About Financial Management (FN)
- FAQs About Problem Management (PM)
- FAQs About Facilities Management (FM)
- Process Management
- Developing Robust Processes
- Establishing Mutually Beneficial Process Metrics
- Change Management—Part 1
- Change Management—Part 2
- Change Management—Part 3
- Audit Reconnaissance: Releasing Resources Through the IT Audit
- Problem Management
- Problem Management–Part 2: Process Design
- Problem Management–Part 3: Process Implementation
- Business Continuity Emergency Communications Plan
- Capacity Planning – Part One: Why It is Seldom Done Well
- Capacity Planning – Part Two: Developing a Capacity Planning Process
- Capacity Planning — Part Three: Benefits and Helpful Tips
- Capacity Planning – Part Four: Hidden Upgrade Costs and
- Improving Business Process Management, Part 1
- Improving Business Process Management, Part 2
- 20 Major Elements of Facilities Management
- Major Physical Exposures Common to a Data Center
- Evaluating the Physical Environment
- Nightmare Incidents with Disaster Recovery Plans
- Developing a Robust Configuration Management Process
- Developing a Robust Configuration Management Process – Part Two
- Automating a Robust Infrastructure Process
- Improving High Availability — Part One: Definitions and Terms
- Improving High Availability — Part Two: Definitions and Terms
- Improving High Availability — Part Three: The Seven R's of High Availability
- Improving High Availability — Part Four: Assessing an Availability Process
- Methods for Brainstorming and Prioritizing Requirements
- Introduction to Disk Storage Management — Part One
- Storage Management—Part Two: Performance
- Storage Management—Part Three: Reliability
- Storage Management—Part Four: Recoverability
- Twelve Traits of World-Class Infrastructures — Part One
- Twelve Traits of World-Class Infrastructures — Part Two
- Meeting Today's Cooling Challenges of Data Centers
- Strategic Security, Part One: Assessment
- Strategic Security, Part Two: Development
- Strategic Security, Part Three: Implementation
- Strategic Security, Part Four: ITIL Implications
- Production Acceptance Part One – Definition and Benefits
- Production Acceptance Part Two – Initial Steps
- Production Acceptance Part Three – Middle Steps
- Production Acceptance Part Four – Ongoing Steps
- Case Study: Planning a Service Desk Part One – Objectives
- Case Study: Planning a Service Desk Part Two – SWOT
- Case Study: Implementing an ITIL Service Desk – Part One
- Case Study: Implementing a Service Desk Part Two – Tool Selection
- Ethics, Scandals and Legislation
- Outsourcing in Response to Legislation
- Supplier Management
- Identifying Key External Suppliers
- Identifying Key Internal Suppliers
- Integrating the Four Key Elements of Good Customer Service
- Enhancing the Customer/Supplier Matrix
- Voice Over IP, Part One — What VoIP Is, and Is Not
- Voice Over IP, Part Two — Benefits, Cost Savings and Features of VoIP
- Application Management
- Production Acceptance
- Distinguishing New Applications from New Versions of Existing Applications
- Assessing a Production Acceptance Process
- Effective Use of a Software Development Life Cycle
- The Role of Project Management in SDLC— Part 2
- Communication in Project Management – Part One: Barriers to Effective Communication
- Communication in Project Management – Part Two: Examples of Effective Communication
- Safeguarding Personal Information in the Workplace: A Case Study
- Combating the Year-end Budget Blitz—Part 1: Building a Manageable Schedule
- Combating the Year-end Budget Blitz—Part 2: Tracking and Reporting Availability
- References
- Developing an ITIL Feasibility Analysis
- Organization and Personnel Management
- Optimizing IT Organizational Structures
- Factors That Influence Restructuring Decisions
- Alternative Locations for the Help Desk
- Alternative Locations for Database Administration
- Alternative Locations for Network Operations
- Alternative Locations for Web Design
- Alternative Locations for Risk Management
- Alternative Locations for Systems Management
- Practical Tips To Retaining Key Personnel
- Benefits and Drawbacks of Using IT Consultants and Contractors
- Deciding Between the Use of Contractors versus Consultants
- Managing Employee Skill Sets and Skill Levels
- Assessing Skill Levels of Current Onboard Staff
- Recruiting Infrastructure Staff from the Outside
- Selecting the Most Qualified Candidate
- 7 Tips for Managing the Use of Mobile Devices
- Useful Websites for IT Managers
- References
- Automating Robust Processes
- Evaluating Process Documentation — Part One: Quality and Value
- Evaluating Process Documentation — Part Two: Benefits and Use of a Quality-Value Matrix
- When Should You Integrate or Segregate Service Desks?
- Five Instructive Ideas for Interviewing
- Eight Surefire Tips to Use When Being Interviewed
- 12 Helpful Hints To Make Meetings More Productive
- Eight Uncommon Tips To Improve Your Writing
- Ten Helpful Tips To Improve Fire Drills
- Sorting Out Today’s Various Training Options
- Business Ethics and Corporate Scandals – Part 1
- Business Ethics and Corporate Scandals – Part 2
- 12 Tips for More Effective Emails
- Management Communication: Back to the Basics, Part One
- Management Communication: Back to the Basics, Part Two
- Management Communication: Back to the Basics, Part Three
- Asset Management
- Managing Hardware Inventories
- Introduction to Hardware Inventories
- Processes To Manage Hardware Inventories
- Use of a Hardware Inventory Database
- References
- Managing Software Inventories
- Business Continuity Management
- Ten Lessons Learned from Real-Life Disasters
- Ten Lessons Learned From Real-Life Disasters, Part 2
- Differences Between Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity , Part 1
- Differences Between Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity , Part 2
- 15 Common Terms and Definitions of Business Continuity
- The Federal Government’s Role in Disaster Recovery
- The 12 Common Mistakes That Cause BIAs To Fail—Part 1
- The 12 Common Mistakes That Cause BIAs To Fail—Part 2
- The 12 Common Mistakes That Cause BIAs To Fail—Part 3
- The 12 Common Mistakes That Cause BIAs To Fail—Part 4
- Conducting an Effective Table Top Exercise (TTE) — Part 1
- Conducting an Effective Table Top Exercise (TTE) — Part 2
- Conducting an Effective Table Top Exercise (TTE) — Part 3
- Conducting an Effective Table Top Exercise (TTE) — Part 4
- The 13 Cardinal Steps for Implementing a Business Continuity Program — Part One
- The 13 Cardinal Steps for Implementing a Business Continuity Program — Part Two
- The 13 Cardinal Steps for Implementing a Business Continuity Program — Part Three
- The 13 Cardinal Steps for Implementing a Business Continuity Program — Part Four
- The Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL)
- The Origins of ITIL
- The Foundation of ITIL: Service Management
- Five Reasons for Revising ITIL
- The Relationship of Service Delivery and Service Support to All of ITIL
- Ten Common Myths About Implementing ITIL, Part One
- Ten Common Myths About Implementing ITIL, Part Two
- Characteristics of ITIL Version 3
- Ten Benefits of itSMF and its IIL Pocket Guide
- Translating the Goals of the ITIL Service Delivery Processes
- Translating the Goals of the ITIL Service Support Processes
- Elements of ITIL Least Understood, Part One: Service Delivery Processes
- Case Study: Recovery Reactions to a Renegade Rodent
- Elements of ITIL Least Understood, Part Two: Service Support
- Case Studies
- Case Study — Preparing for Hurricane Charley
- Case Study — The Linux Decision
- Case Study — Production Acceptance at an Aerospace Firm
- Case Study — Production Acceptance at a Defense Contractor
- Case Study — Evaluating Mainframe Processes
- Case Study — Evaluating Recovery Sites, Part One: Quantitative Comparisons/Natural Disasters
- Case Study — Evaluating Recovery Sites, Part Two: Quantitative Comparisons/Man-made Disasters
- Case Study — Evaluating Recovery Sites, Part Three: Qualitative Comparisons
- Case Study — Evaluating Recovery Sites, Part Four: Take-Aways
- Disaster Recovery Test Case Study Part One: Planning
- Disaster Recovery Test Case Study Part Two: Planning and Walk-Through
- Disaster Recovery Test Case Study Part Three: Execution
- Disaster Recovery Test Case Study Part Four: Follow-Up
- Assessing the Robustness of a Vendor’s Data Center, Part One: Qualitative Measures
- Assessing the Robustness of a Vendor’s Data Center, Part Two: Quantitative Measures
- Case Study: Lessons Learned from a World-Wide Disaster Recovery Exercise, Part One: What Did the Team Do Well
- (d) Case Study: Lessons Learned from a World-Wide Disaster Recovery Exercise, Part Two
Young managers today may wonder how did offices ever communicate before the age of emails? Old-timers, on the other hand, may lament as to when will the ongoing rush of endless emails ever slow down? The fact of the matter is that emails have become an important, if not indispensable, tool in modern business life, and are becoming more so in our personal and private lives.
But the productivity benefits that emails offer are often undermined by the sheer quantity and quality of these online notes. How can you cut down on the number of emails received and sent? Are there simple ways to make your emails more effective? This article answers these and other questions by offering a dozen helpful tips on how to improve your emails. I base these suggestions on my twenty-some years of experience of observing, receiving and sending out various types of emails in numerous setting and for various reasons. Figure 1 summarizes these 12 tips.
|
Details of the 12 Tips
- Minimize use of over-sized distribution lists – Many companies provide wide distribution lists that may include everyone in a group, department, division, or even the entire company. In their zest to communicate with everyone appropriate, some employees use wider than needed distribution lists. This can clog up networks and saturate servers needlessly. Care and discretion should be exercised when using these lists.
- Limit distribution of personal announcements – I worked at a small (less than 100 employees) firm a few years back that routinely used email to build a sense of teamwork and family. Personal announcements such as birthdays, marriages, promotions, deaths, reassignments or newborns were accepted and encouraged. But as the company rapidly expanded its size five-fold, this use of personal emails clearly became a problem. Making matters worse were the dozens of responses with 'Reply to All'. Policies were later put in place to address the issues of personal messages and how to reply to them.
- Use judiciously the confirmation of receipt feature – This feature can be useful for critical notes involving legal or personnel matters. But often it is mis-used to the point of annoyance. Users should employ this feature only when necessary.
- Refrain from using multiple fonts – Some emailers use a variety of fonts, colors and treatments, presumably as a part of their self-expression. I have seen pink paragraphs, neon-green numbers and an overzealous use of boldface, all-caps and italics. This sort of font formatting can make even short messages difficult to read. Standard Arial in black may seem plain but there is beauty in simplicity and practicality.
- Turn automatic spell checking feature on – This is a feature that most all email systems offer, yet some users choose not to use it. It is not perfect and will not catch every typo, but it comes close. Most recipients of email are forgiving of minor typos and more appreciative of a quick response. Still, this is an easy feature to activate and should be used all the time.
- Keep backgrounds to plain white – The creative side of some emailers comes out with all variations of non-white background. One of the associates of my current client tends to use rose-garden floral prints to spruce of her emails. While her emails may reflect her personal taste, they are not always well received. Background images can also add to the size of an email, taking up more mailbox space than is necessary.
- Maintain signature blocks that are simple and professional – Some people choose to express their creativity and individuality with elaborately designed signature blocks. The last thing I would want to do is to stifle someone's creativity but there is a time and place for everything. Save your colorful artwork for your personal emails. In a business environment, simple and direct signature blocks are much more effective and usually much more appreciated.
- Encourage your department or company to provide email guidelines and policies – Ideally, companies should provide all employees a set of email guidelines and policies. In many companies these policies are similar, but not identical, to Internet policies that discourage unprofessional or lengthy personal use of corporate resources. If you are a manger of a department you can augment existing policies, or institute them for the first time, by offering policies and guidelines unique to your department.
- Ensure email guidelines and policies are enforced – Once email policies are established they need to be enforced. This is often done by holding managers accountable for how their employees use email. But occasionally, technology may be employed to enforce email policies. For example, one company enforces its policy of no wide-spread emails by restricting 'Reply to All' if 'Company Everyone' was part of the recipient.
- Shorten sentences and paragraphs – Emails are far more readable if sentences and paragraphs are kept brief. This may sound obvious but it is frequently violated. I have more than once received emails in which sentences rambled on for over 50 words, and paragraphs extended on for most of a page. A good rule of thumb is 20-30 words per sentence, and 4-5 sentences per paragraph.
- Re-read the note just before sending – News flash: spell check does not catch every typo, and little can be done to spot grammar errors. Read over your emails one final time before sending. This should at least ensure the correct meaning of your note remains intact.
- Employ a proof-reader for highly important emails – Widely distributed emails dealing with company-critical or personnel issues need to go out mistake free. Such emails include those involving company announcements, introduction of new employees, new personnel policies, or promotions. It is always good to have another person proof read these before sending. Printing the note out for proof-reading tends to be more effective than screen reading. A recent client company of mine was being sold and executives announced that emails would come out every week on the status of the sale. The emails were always timely, much anticipated, widely read and always flawless.
Summary
Emails have become very much a reality in both our everyday business lives as well as our personal lives. This article presented 12 helpful tips for improving the management of these ever –increasing numbers of emails. The tips included ways to reduce the number of unnecessary emails that you may issue or receive, and methods to increase the effectiveness of the emails that you do send out. We may not be able to eliminate our emails, as some of you may wish, but we can certainly take steps to make them more useful and friendly. The intent of this article was to do just that.