Let’s go back in time: high school, out with friends.

The only available form of asynchronous communication was leaving a message on the answering machine. That meant that your message had to be good - you had to communicate where you were, when you would be home, why your parents shouldn’t worry, and anticipate and proactively answer their questions - all within the sixty-second message limit.

Screw up and leave them worrying? Consequence: next Friday night you’re stuck at home.

Since declaring email bankruptcy isn’t an option for me (at least not with work emails), I’ve tried to instill the “only one email” philosophy in my communications and am hoping it will catch on. It takes some getting used to, and requires an extra read-though before you hit ’send’ (which is always a good idea anyways).

After writing, I re-read and check:

• Did I cover the reason for writing this email in the first place?
• Did I make it clear what (if any) response I expect from the recipients?
• Did I anticipate likely follow-up questions and proactively provide answers?
• Is the email visually easy to scan? (adequate whitespace, appropriate use of CAPS or rich-text formatting?)

It only takes a few extra seconds, and even if it doesn’t lead to any new trends in email writing among my contacts, it has already saved me from a number of sheepish “oops, forgot the attachment” emails.

Tags: email

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