DEVELOPMENT
Six ways for EAs
to communicate
more effectively
Steuart Snooks lays out a set of strategies you can use to write
emails that get the reader to take the action you need
The challenge with any form of written
communication is to ensure that the reader is able
to understand and appropriately respond to your
message. This is difficult at any time but especially
so when using email. Recent research of Australian
business leaders shows that communication skills
are regarded as the number one soft skill needed
for success into the future. And nearly 80 percent
of business communication is sent via email, so it
makes sense to start writing better emails as the
first step in improving communication skills.
1
Think first
Two key questions to ask yourself are ‘Is email
the most appropriate way to communicate for
this message?’ While email is an ideal medium
for many messages, there are many which
would be more effectively communicated by
something other than email. If your message
is urgent or contains complexity, ambiguity
or confidentiality, you should consider a more
appropriate method to communicate the message.
Perhaps a phone call or face-to-face conversation
is more appropriate.
While email may be quick at the ‘front end’
of the communication process, it can often cost
even more time at the ‘back end’ of the process
to either follow up a message that hasn’t been
responded to or to correct a misunderstanding or
any unintended outcomes.
2
Write better subject lines
The subject line is probably the single most
important aspect of your message. A truly effective
subject line has the three following components;
w
Your
desired outcome: using one of the four
outcomes mentioned below
w
Timeframe: indicate your preferred timeframe
for the desired outcome
w
Description: a clear, concise description of
the subject
60 Chief of Staff | Issue 1 2020
Every email you send will have one of the following
four outcomes or actions: Action required,
Response requested, Read-only, FYI. By doing this,
you help your reader to more effectively prioritise
their inbox and the resulting actions that are
needed.
For best results, you should also specify a
deadline for the outcome you desire—you’re
much more likely to get a timely response for your
message than if you don’t specify a deadline or
timeframe. Finally, thinking through the desired
outcome of your message also helps you to more
accurately target who you send it to. Those who
need to take action or respond should be placed in
the ‘To’ address line while those who only need to
read it can be put in the ‘CC’ line.
3
Automate your email follow up
This is a key strategy for EAs who find that
many of the emails you send require you to also
follow them up. One way to keep track of these