MARKING
MESSAGES
AS
URGENT
THAT
AREN'T.
Some people get in the habit of marking everything
SENDING TOO MUCH EMAIL.
as Urgent or Needs Response ASAP. Or they too
If you've fallen into this pattern of think-
often take advantage of an urgent designation within
ing, snap out of it. No one ever won a
their email software. Do this too often and your recipi-
promotion, or a prize, or a place in his-
ents will start ignoring your "urgent" messages. That
tory for sending lots and lots of email.
could be a problem if you have something to send
There are more effective ways you
that truly does require an immediate response.
could be directing your energy.
But really, if something is urgent, you should probably pick up the phone and call, or send a text, rather
than email. Which is why you should never, or almost
never, send messages marked Urgent.
AN ANNOYING TONE.
Nobody sets out to be offensive in their business emails. But the very
nature of email can get you in trouble. An offhand or humorous comment that would come across as such in a face-to-face or phone conversation may not be taken as you intended if you include it in an
email. The smart approach is to err on the side of being too courteous
.
and too friendly. Avoid any form of sarcasm. And use humor sparingly
t
if at all since it can so easily be misconstrued.
to
u
AN IMPROPER OR BRUSQUE GREET-
just
ING--OR NO GREETING AT ALL.
An email should begin with a greeting,
Lamb contends. But what about those situations where you're sending a message to
a stranger? Sometimes I worry that using
the person's first name may seem too informal, and using "Mr." or "Ms." and a last
name may seem too formal.
"The best greeting in that situation is the
middle ground: 'Dear David Smith,
USING EMAIL TO COMMUNICATE WHEN
SOMETHING ELSE WOULD BE BETTER.
One of the complaints Lamb hears is that
people don't consider the full range of communication options, from face-to-face meet-
ings, to videoconferences, to instant messages, to texts, to faxes, before they send an
email. "Email is good for passing along information, but not for many other things," she
says.
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