8 Tricks for Getting Your Emails Answered

For such a common mode of workplace communication, intra-office e-mails tend to be terribly written. What easier way to stand out from the crowd than to consistently send sharp, welcome electronic messages? Just do the following.

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1. Polish Your Subject Line

The key is to be specific, not necessarily short. Instead of giving your e-mail the name “Byrne project,” call it “Byrne project: new deadline for phase 2.” Your e-mail is already more interesting than most.

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2. Don’t Bury the Lead

If you want to annoy people, make them read three paragraphs before you get to the point. If you want to rise in the company, state your purpose in the first sentence or two and then get to the why and how of it.

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3. End With an Action Request

Example: “I will call you on Monday at 10 a.m. to follow up on this.” Or: “When can we get this done?” Otherwise, nothing is likely to happen.

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4. Be Friendly

Decent people who would never dream of being cold and abrupt in person often come off that way in their e-mails. Being businesslike doesn’t have to mean being impersonal. Remember that the sender and receiver are both human beings.

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5. Proof Your Emails

It’s worth repeating. Just one misspelling, grammatical error, or typo makes you look foolish. It also makes you look disrespectful to the recipient. Sending clean e-mails automatically lifts you above the sloppy crowd.

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6. Behave Yourself

Irony doesn’t work in e-mails. Neither do sensitive subjects, such as sex, race, religion, and politics. Stay away from them, because every message you send is being judged.

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7. Stop CC-ing Everybody

All you’re doing is making all involved feel less important.

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8. Pick Up Your Phone

If you have to spend more than five minutes on an e-mail message, call instead.

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