With all of the latest micro-blogging and other short messages, I’m starting to realize exactly how out-of-date email really is.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.