IndexIs e-mail the right choice for your message?

Planning effective e-mails

Using proper tone in e-mail

E-mail constructionSubject line

SalutationFirst sentence

BodyClosing

Proofread

Signatures

Design

Attachments

Event notification e-mails

Meeting requests

Voting

Categories

Category folders in your inbox

Quick Steps for easy filing

Rules for filing

Turning off the “dinger”

Time for e-mail

Dealing with each e-mail

Tasks

Staying within 800 MB inbox limit

Improving student use of e-mail

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Is e-mail the right choice for your message?

If your communication cannot be achieved in one e-mail cycle, use the phone or write a high- content message. (Cavanagh, 2003)

Avoid: - “Can we meet in the next few days?” - “Sure, what time is good for you?” - “How about this Thursday at lunch?” - “No, i’m booked. i have time at 3 p.m.” - “Sorry, i’m not available then. Would 10 a.m. work?” - “No, i’m off-campus then. How about next week?” HigH-CoNTeNT meSSAge: - “Could we meet in the next few days? i’m open this Thursday or Friday for lunch or in the afternoon.” - “Sure, i’m not available for lunch either day, but would 2 p.m. on Friday work?” -“Yes,I’llseeyouinyouroffice.Thankyou.”

Face-to-face or phone is preferable when: 1. it’s urgent 2. thee-mailseemsdifficulttocompose 3. there is a last-minute change 4. it’s complex 5. it’s sensitive 6. thepersonworksnearyouroffice

Planning:

Take time during the planning of your e-mails.

Keep each e-mail to one topic.

Organize your thoughts: 1. What you want the reader to do after reading your e-mail? 2. What the reader needs to know about the subject? (Lamb, 1999) Know your audience: 1. Who are they? 2. How much do they know about the situation? 3. How much do they need to know? 4. How do you think he/she will respond? visualize yourself in a conversation with your readers and anticipate their questions and needs.

“To” = the recipient who should expect to take action. “CC” or “BCC” = the recipient will assume no action. 1. “CC” is a function that is too often abused. 2. Rememberthat“CC”and“FYI”e-mailstaketimeforourrecipientstoread,sometimesuptofive minutes each. (Cavanagh, 2003) 3. “Reply All” only if “All” need to know

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Tone:

“By its very nature, e-mail communication encourages senders to be curt, brief, and sometimes Inadvertently abrupt.” (Seshandri and Carstenson, 2007)

E-mailtoneshouldnotbetoocasualortooformal.Beconfident,courteous,andsincere. (Dumbrava and Koronka, 2008)

Conflictescalationismorelikelyine-mailthanface-to-faceorphone.(Seshandri and Carstenson, 2007)

Phrases that can come across as angry: 1. “You don’t understand” 2. “You state that” 3. “You forgot to” 4. “You claim that” 5. “How dare” 6. “if you had called” 7. “You can’t do that” 8. “From now on”

A slight edit can change how your tone is construed: 1. Rather than - “i want to meet with you (!)” Try - “Could we meet (?)” (Cavanagh, 2003) 2. Rather than - “You didn’t read the instructions carefully, thus your system has shut down.” Try - “The system may automatically shut down if installation errors occur.” (Dumbrava and Koronka, 2008)

Be polite by using words like “please” and “thank you.”

Avoid using ALL CAPS, bold, and red print in e-mail messages.

E-mail Construction:

SubjeCT liNe - a vital part to the effectiveness of e-mails, like the headline of a news story 1. Short 2. interesting 3. explain the message 4. use a verb is action is required 5. Mostimportantwordsfirst 6. Revise reply subject lines

examples: 1. “Pls consider attached budget request” 2. “3 questions about may graduation” 3. “Pls help with student data for 4.4.14 deadline”

SAluTATioN - provides a courteous greeting 1. “Hello dr. _______” 2. “good afternoon joe,” 3. “joe,” 4

FiRST SeNTeNCe-followssuitonyoursubjectlinewithmostimportantinfo.first 1. if you are requesting action 2. if you want a reply 3. explain if/why there are attachments 4. Forecast multiple points, requests, or steps to be taken and number them

bodY - be concise and make every word important 1. use the inverted pyramid (news) style of writing. Tier info. from most important to least important. 2. Short sentences and short paragraphs. 3. Structure for readability a. White space b. bullet points c. Headers d. Paragraph breaks

CloSiNg - be polite and thank them in advance when appropriate 1. “Regards,” 2. “Cheers,” 3. “Sincerely,”

PRooFReAd - read to see if every word has a necessary function or if it can be cut (Lamb, 1999) 1. use a simple word if it works 2. don’t hit “Send” if: a. You are angry or emotional b. You would feel uncomfortable with your coworkers, boss, or a reporter reading it 3. Lastly,fillinthe“To”box.Bydoingthisasthefinalstep,youavoidsendingprematuree-mails.

Signatures:

Signatures can be created for various types of e-mails, but should be easily legible and should include all pertinent contact information 1. You can hyperlink items in your signature by clicking the hyperlink icon in the signature edit box a. hyperlink your name to your online SAu directory page b. hyperlink to SAu’s homepage or your departmental page 2. Avoid inserting images, such as the SAu logo or mulerider, as they show as attachments

Creating or editing signatures “File” >> “options” >> “mail” >> “Create or modify signatures for messages.”

You can make multiple types of signatures, even some that include text you commonly have to e-mail.

For instance, some have a “directions” signaturewithdirectionstotheiroffice.

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Design:

Structure for readability 1. use white space 2. use bullet points 3. use headers 4. use an easily legible font, avoiding scripts. 4. use paragraph breaks

Avoid decorative backgrounds for work e-mails

Attachments:

only send attachments is they are necessary, because they add to recipient’s time investment and to their inbox data size. 1. Giveattachmentsappropriatefilenames:“2014SAUStaterCoverProof.jpg” 2. Mentiontheattachmentandbrieflydescribeitinthefirstsentenceofyoure-mail 3. limiting attachment size is important. Keeping total attachments less than 2 mb is preferred. 4. Send multiple attachments: a. Putfilesintoonefolder b. Right click folder >> “Send to” >> “Compressed (zipped) folder” >> 5. Sendlargefilesusinganonlinefilesharingservice,suchas“Hightail.com”

Event Notification E-mails: Answer the following questions as clearly and quickly as possible: 1. What? 3. Where? 2. When? 4. Why? Attachments/graphics are usually not necessary, but if using them use guidelines above.

Avoid using graphics without text. Text is always needed because some e-mail programs do not automatically download attachments or inserted graphics.

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Meeting Requests:

Calendar meeting requests are the best way for organizers to schedule meetings.

in outlook Calendar, click “New Appointment” in the top left

Click “invite Attendees”

Attendees e-mails (or names on SAu network)

Subject

location

date and time

event details

Attachments can also be includedbydraggingfilesinto the body of the meeting request

Voting options via Outlook e-mail:

You can poll recipients easily using e-voting. in a new message, click “options” tab >> “use voting buttons”

You can choose between 1. “Approve; Reject” 2. “Yes; No” 3. “Yes; No; maybe” 4. “Custom;”

it is very important that you use the subject line and the opening of your e-mail message to ask recipients to recognize and use the voting capability.

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The Inbox:

The goal should be to see the bottom of your inbox without scrolling.

inbox is not: 1. A to-do list 2. Aticklerfilethatremindsyouofwork 3. A calendar with meeting notices and reminders 4. A database with addresses and phone numbers 5. Afilingsystemforunfinishedprojects

Start by categorizing your work.

Click “Categorize” >> “New” >> Name it and select a color

The great thing about Categories is they work across all of oulook with e-mail, Tasks, and Calendar organizing.

Create inbox folders. Right click your “inbox” folder and create a newfilefolderforeachofyourCategories.

An advantage to having e-mails in folders under your inbox is that you can access these e-mails from off campus.

A disadvantage is that all e-mails in these new inbox folders will count toward your 800 mb e-mail account limit.

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Inbox management

Category folders in my Inbox

iPhone screenshotof Inbox folders

Put numbers in front of your Categories and Folders to list them in priority order rather than alphabetically.

Set up Quick Steps to quickly file Category e-mails: YoucanestablishQuickStepstomakefilinge-mailsquickandeasywithoneclick. 1. Click the small icon at the bottom right of the Quick Steps block in your outlook window.

2. Click the “New” dropdown menu.

3. Name your new Quick Step. 4. Usethefirstdropdownmenu to select the folder you want thee-mailtobefiledinto.

5. The next dropdown menu is for selecting the corresponding Category.

Set up Rules to automatically file specific incoming e-mails: YoucancreateRulestoauto-fileincominge-mailsthatdonotneedimmediateattention. 1. Click “Rules” >> Click “Create Rule”

2. if you are creating a rule for e-mail you have selected, check the “From...” box >> check the “move the item to folder” >> click “Select Folder...” and choose the appropriate Category folder.

You may also click “Advanced options” for additional choices.

Schedule time with your inbox:

Turn off the “dinger.” Your productivity is greatly reduced if you respond to e-mails as they arrive or too often throughout the day. Turn off any noise and visual alerts for new e-mails to reduce the urge to check e-mail too often.

Click on the “File” tab >> click “options” >> click “mail” >> under “message arrival,” uncheck all the boxes to disable all alerts. 9

Inbox management

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Peak times for e-mail. Studies show that there are four peak times for workers checking e-mail: 1. First thing in the morning 2. before lunch 3. After lunch 4. end of the day (Jackson et al., 2003)

There is no one rule, you should decide what times are best for you to work with your e-mail.

deal with each e-mail immediately: 1. just do it if it takes less than two minutes to complete. (ie - answer a quick question or e-mail a document)

2. File it quickly with Categories and Quick Steps.

3. delete it.

4. Schedule it by simply click and dragging the e-mail to the “Calendar” tab, then updating the “Subject” and “location,” “Start time,” and “end time” as needed.

5. Create a new Task for requests that will take more than two minutes to complete. Simply click and drag the e-mail to the “Tasks” tab. Task options:

1. Categorize

2. “Assign Task” to a fellow worker

3. Reword the “Subject” for better filing

4. Set a “due date” to determine where the task is originally placed in your To-do list

5. Add notes for yourself/others

6. A great function is the ability to reopen the Task at any time and add additional e-mails pertaining to it, more notes, documents or other attachments. When you are ready to do the Task, all the e-mails and information is together in one place.

Keeping your inbox size within 800 MB limit:

Remember maintenance musts: 1. Archive or delete “Sent items” folder 2. in your “deleted items” folder, select all e-mails and permanently delete them

3. use Archive folders outside of your inbox for extended storage

Creating a new Archive: 1. Click on the “File” tab 2. Click on the “Account Settings” button >> Click “Account Settings” from dropdown menu

3. in the Account Settings dialogue box, click on the second tab, “data Files.”

4. Click “Add...”

5. give your Archive a name and save it on a network drive (ie. - your Z drive)

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Inbox management

managIng student e-maIl use

Be understanding of student e-mail misuse

Student e-mail misuse may stem from the following issues: 1. Seemingly “erased boundaries that traditionally kept students at a healthy distance” 2. A more relaxed attitude of this generation toward stylistics

3. Aninfluenceofmoderntechnology’scommunicationcharacteristics,suchastextingandsocialmedia

4. Students’ lack of understanding about e-mail etiquette and a lack of training (Biesenbach-Lucas., 2007)

Consider e-mail guidelines

establishing verbal and/or written guidelines about e-mail use improve their use of this medium An example from “inside Higher education” (2006) of a faculty guideline used in a course syllabus:

“When you send e-mail messages to me this term, i will expect you to have ‘proofed’ it for spelling, grammatical accuracy, for use of vocabulary, and for composition. if your message does not pass my ‘test’ in all four respects, it will be returned to you with a message stating, ‘This message is inappropriate for review. Please revise it...’”

Although this example may be a little harsh, guidelines could include:

1. expectations about message tone and format (students should show appropriate respect to professors no matter the form of communication) 2. A realistic timeframe the students can expect a reply, remembering that e-mail is an asynchronous form of communication (immediate replies should not be expected)

3. The types of issues that can be handled via e-mail (basic inquiries, scheduling a meeting, etc.) versusissuesthatshouldstillbehandledwithanofficevisit

The “e-mAil best Practices for a brighter outlook” guidebook was produced by Aaron Street, SAu assistant dean for integrated marketing and media relations in Spring 2014. 12