Right now, many of us are working from home and that means more emails are being sent than ever before. But are you doing it correctly?

Emails are one of the primary sources of workplace communication, so it is important our messages hit the mark. According to SEEK, employees often send rude emails without ever realising their messages may be on the nose.

To make sure you are delivering your message effectively, be sure to avoid the following mistakes:

  1. Not opening with some friendly remarks

Be sure to open with some pleasantries instead of getting straight to the point. A simple ‘hope your week is going well’ and ending with something nice like you appreciate their time/help, is easy and always well received.

 

  1. Not blind copying in unrelated recipients

When it comes to emails there’s not a lot of people dislike more than when someone outs their email address to 100+ unknown recipients to see.

We get that sometimes it’s a lot easier to send out a group email than to do it in small batches or even one by one, but never forget to blind copy (BCC) unrelated recipients so their contact isn’t made available to everyone on the list.

 

  1. Including poor grammar and/or typos

Regardless of what industry you are in, it’s always important to communicate effectively and professionally. Poor grammar and typos are the quickest way to tell your recipient that you either haven’t paid attention to your correspondence or you are not up to speed with your grammar and spelling. If you’re unsure, the quickest and easiest way is to write your email copy in Word, check for errors, then copy and paste it into your email.

 

  1. Not keeping it simple

It’s an email, not a novel. People are busy and unless it’s something super important most people scan their email for the point. If you can keep your emails short, sharp, and straight forward your message will be better received.

 

  1. Sending your email to the wrong recipient

This one goes without saying – especially if it is less than complimentary. We’ve all heard stories of people sending an email about someone to that very someone, then shrieking in horror after pressing send. Even if your email is not uncomplimentary, it’s still not a great look having to apologise and explain you sent it to the wrong person. So before hitting send, double-check you have the correct recipient selected.

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