Writing Effective E-Mail

The team that developed Writing Effective E-Mail polled businesspeople about their experience with e-mail. Here are some of their responses:

• "We came to realize that our company's image rests with every employee who writes or answers e-mail."
• "We spend a lot of time opening and reading e-mail. If the message is clear, this is time well spent. But when the messages require further e-mails to explain the original e-mail, time is wasted."
• "I often wonder, Should I use a greeting? If so, what kind of greeting? I usually use Sincerely for my closing, but I notice that most of the international e-mails close with Regards. Should I use Regards?"
• "If I'm sending an e-mail to Sweden, do I write dates like we do here in the United States, or should I write them like they do in Sweden?"
• "Right now our biggest need is to learn how to use e-mail to better manage our teams of workers. Our second challenge is to implement an e-mail policy."

Everyone agrees e-mail has the power to change a business quickly—for better or for worse. One of the biggest challenges most businesses face is to help every employee learn to write clear, professional e-mails that uphold the company's image and produce the desired results.