With all of the latest micro-blogging and other short messages, I’m starting to realize exactly how out-of-date email really is. Especially after seeing Twitter’s success.
The question now becomes what does a good email include?
Here’s what I propose:
- To only the person it concerns
- The subject is the task
- the properties of what the receiver must do are clear (like XML or plist files)
- is it safe to cut-out the vowels to save time? (as in ‘tomorrow‘)
- keep the signature simple. If you must include a long signature, make it a hyperlink to a page on the business intranet which has all of your information.
- keep it simple, as in plain text… or atleast without crazy, hard to read fonts and colors.
...is not present: this is not okay and wastes time and dilutes the meaning.- keep it in as few lines as possible. If you need more then email is not what you should use.
- ***as an organization you should establish a single set of ‘commands’ for the reciever, and a template.
- encrypt the message, this will save the use of a really long disclaimer about how sensitive this email is.
- define
urgent. if it’s used in an email, it’s not. if something is actually urgent send me a voicemail or text message, or better yet–see me face-to-face.
(In the next part I’ll look at Twitter’s success using just 140 characters–and how/if it can be applied to inter-office messaging)
For more information from an actual productivity expert, see 43Folders.