Business Writing

No Contact Information? No Job.

This week I almost recommended a consultant. One of my clients had asked me to recommend someone who taught a particular subject, and I was ready to recommend Rita (not her real name).

But when I tried to track down Rita's contact information to give to my client, I couldn't find anything but a gmail address. An email Rita had sent me recently did not include her phone number, website URL, or any other contact information.

Rather than give my client Rita's name and gmail address with no other way to contact her or check her out, I recommended another consultant.

Sorry, Rita! I would be glad to recommend you. But I need some help to do it: your phone number, your website URL, and an email address that makes you seem professional. Since I didn't have any of those, I recommended someone else.

Here's the moral of the story: If you want work, share your contact information. Put it on everything. Include it on every message.

Lynn
Syntax Training

When a Joke Is Not a Joke

In response to my monthly newsletter, I just received this automatic out-of-office email response:

I will be unable to delete all the emails you send me until I return from holiday (2nd of March). Please, be patient, and your mail will be deleted in the order in which it was received.

Br,

Pertti

The message came from someone at a global plastics company.

What do you think? Is it amusing? Does it present the company well?

As someone who prides herself on her professional communication, I admit I was shocked. If I had emailed Pertti as a client or customer, I would be likely to take my business elsewhere. 

What is your view? Do you think Pertti will be looking for a new job when the holiday is over?

Lynn
Syntax Training

Community Service: No Replies to All

In the United States, it is a national holiday: Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Inspired by Barack and Michelle Obama, many individuals and organizations will perform community service in food banks, shelters, and other places of need. When I finish this post, I will spend my day with elderly and sick friends. It is a day of connection and community.

Wherever we are, a simple but essential service we can perform for our business community is to avoid unnecessary Reply to All email. Reply to All is frequently a meaningless, time-wasting sham of connection that shuts down productivity and gluts email servers. Last week the Associated Press reported on a flood of sudden email replies at the US State Department ("Reply-all e-mail storm hits State Department") that virtually crippled communications there.

Although not focused on the sick and needy, avoiding Reply to All would indeed be a service. In every Email Intelligence class I lead, participants rant about the senseless, aggravating email they receive--much of it Replies to All.

When should we Reply to All? I answered that question in "Reply to All: Do They Need It?" But we can also look to the days before email, when people sent photocopies of memos and letters through interoffice mail. Each copy had to be printed, placed in an envelope, and addressed. So here's a guide: If you had no email, would you copy the message, put it in an interoffice envelope, address the envelope, and drop it in your outbox for pickup? If the copied message would not be worth the effort to send that way to each recipient, don't send it Reply to All.

If you have other ideas about reducing Reply to All email, please share them. The State Department (see above) is threatening unspecified "disciplinary action" for those who abuse Reply to All.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day! Read my "Pursue Peace" entry for ideas on improving the world one message at a time. 

Lynn
Syntax Training

Don't Pile on the Topics in an Email Reply

Today in "How to Write Email That Gets Read and Gets Results," which I presented for the Washington Society of CPAs," we talked about our pet peeves, things that slow us down and drive us nuts as email readers. An auditor shared one of her pet peeves that I'd like to pass on to you. Here is what she said, as I recall it:

"As an auditor, I write to people about very specific topics. I am careful to craft a subject line that is very precise, and I continue to use that subject as we email back and forth on the same topic.

"The problem is that people include all kinds of information on other topics--not what I wrote them about--and they use the same subject. I have the hardest time filing those messages so I can find the information again."

I couldn't have described the problem better.

Here is my advice: To avoid driving your readers crazy as they read or attempt to file your messages, limit your messages to just one topic--especially when communicating with an accountant, attorney, project manager, financial advisor, or another person who works on specific projects or issues with you. Whenever you want to introduce a new topic, start a new message.

If you want to help other people change their email behavior, give them my booklet "110 Tips for Sending Email That Gets Read--and Gets Results." You might circle tip Number 17, "Do not introduce a new topic when you reply to an email. If you do, your reader may miss the new information or be unable to find it later." The booklet fits in a No. 10 business envelope.

Happy emailing.

Lynn
Syntax Training

 

A Friendly Failure--Called by the Wrong Name

I just read an email exchange between a manager and a consultant who is hoping to work for the manager.

The manager's name is Susan. The consultant addressed her as Sue.

Friendly failures like these get noticed much more than a tiny typo such as "you" for "your." Susan recognizes her own name--and the wrong name--in an instant. The same is true for my husband, Michael, who is often addressed as Mike. Michael is not a Mike.

Before clicking Send on an email, check to see how the individual signs his or her name. Remember: Just because your brother is Bob or Rob or Robby, doesn't mean every Robert is the same.

Lynn (not Lynne)
Syntax Training

How to Finesse Email Reminders

In an Email Intelligence class the other day, attendees brought up the question of reminders:

If something is due at 5 p.m., is it okay to email someone at 4 p.m. with a reminder?

What do you think? If you were working toward a 5 p.m. deadline, would you appreciate a 4 p.m. email reminder?

And if you were the person expecting the work, could you stop yourself from worrying about it before 5 p.m.?

A class participant proposed the ideal solution:

If you need something by 5 p.m., give a 4 p.m. deadline. That way, if you have not received it by 4, you can comfortably nudge the other person.

For more valuable ideas about email etiquette and efficiency, get my "110 Tips for Sending Email That Gets Read--and Gets Results," available as a printed booklet and PDF.

What is your opinion on reminders? Please share it.

Lynn
Syntax Training

Avoid "Blessed" and "Bang for the Buck"

In yesterday's Better Business Writing class, participants shared two examples of language to avoid: "blessed" and "bang for the buck." I think their cautions are worth passing on.

In the first example, an employee has been sending email with "Have a blessed day," and her coworkers have been buzzing about it. That close is wrong in business communication unless the organization is a church or other religious organization. Even then, if the employees of the organization are not all of the same religion, "Have a blessed day" is inappropriate.

What could possibly be wrong with "Have a blessed day?" It's wrong because individuals should not be subjected to other people's religion or religious sentiments in business communication--at least not in the United States. Alternatives are "Have a wonderful day," "Have a great day," "Have a perfect day," etc.

Even if the sender is communicating with one person for whom "Have a blessed day" is a welcome sentiment, email is often forwarded. It was a forwarded message that created the stir I heard about in yesterday's class.

Far from "blessed" on the refinement spectrum is "bang for the buck." A class participant told us about a colleague who used the expression at a business meeting in France. When he uttered the phrase, people in the room visibly shrank from him in apparent disgust, perhaps because the word bang is vulgar slang for sexual intercourse. The U.S. businessman would have been more successful with "return on our investment," which is what he intended.

Have a lovely day!

Lynn
Syntax Training

P.S. For North American readers, the next Better Business Writing workshop takes place in Marysville, Washington (north of Seattle), on November 14.   

 

What Your Out-of-Office Message Reveals

Today I sent out my monthly ezine, Better Writing at Work, to more than 6,000 subscribers. As usual, I received dozens of out-of-office messages. As I read them, I realized they told me a lot about my subscribers' employers.

For example, I learned which companies and organizations:

• Allow maternity leaves that extend for months.
• Allow paternity leaves.
• Offer employees sabbatical leaves to refresh and rejuvenate themselves.
• Train employees in daylong and weeklong workshops.
• Encourage employees not to respond to email while they are in training.
• Develop teams and departments by having them participate in retreats.
• Celebrate Mexico's Independence Day by closing the office.
• Offer employees bereavement leaves of a week and longer.
• Encourage green business practices.

What does your out-of-office message say about your company?

Lynn
Syntax Training

Great Party--But You Can't Come!

Imagine a friend describing a great party she is planning--wonderful food, music, people, dancing--all on a beautiful exotic beach. Too bad it's in New Zealand and you're in New York. Your loss.

Or your home office emails you about a fabulous company event. All the important people will be there. It will be a perfect opportunity to get known around the company. Unfortunately, the event is in Toronto, you're in Tokyo, and travel budgets have been axed. That's a shame.

How would you feel about those two non-invitations? Disappointed? Irritated? Jealous? Taken for granted? Don't worry--they are imaginary.

But the many corporate emails sent each day to "all employees" are real. Such messages tell brokers in London about a picnic in Los Angeles, service specialists in Mumbai about dinner in Montreal, and disaster clean-up experts in Houston about a fashion show in Dallas.

Why invite people who cannot attend? You know the answer: it is the beauty and the curse of being able to communicate with all employees in seconds.

If you are guilty of sending all-employee messages about free donuts in your local conference room, stop! You are making people feel disappointed, irritated, jealous, taken for granted, and just plain frustrated. After all, they can't delete the message without seeing what it is about--and knowing that, once again, they are left out.

This issue is on my mind today because of lunch with a friend who is fighting the good fight against all-employee messages at his new company. He says the people there have never thought about these things.

Let's encourage more thinking about all-employee messages. Do you receive emails that invite you to impossible events? Please share your story.

Lynn
Syntax Training

In Praise of Email

People often talk about how we overuse email. They complain that we should pick up the phone more often. They're right, of course, and I am normally one of them.

But sometimes email can be better than a phone call.

Last week I set up a lunch with a business friend. It seemed efficient to set the date by phone. We both checked our calendars and agreed on the date and time, 11:30 a.m. on Friday.

But when I emailed him today to recommend a place for our lunch, he wrote back:

Lynn, my dear friend, I am so sorry. I managed to completely forget to set up the appointment on my calendar and now have a meeting on Friday that goes until 12:30!

My sincerest apologies. I think because we arranged the date over the phone, I didn't set up the Outlook appointment right away. Busy much?

Yes, when busy, we can forget a crucial step such as typing or recording an appointment. But with email, we both would have had the record, and with an Outlook meeting appointment, it would have instantly appeared on our calendars.

The next time I schedule a meeting efficiently by phone I will send a confirming Outlook meeting invitation--by email.

Another lesson learned.

Lynn
Syntax Training