Email at work is different from email when applying for a job. It is faster, shorter, and read on a phone by someone with two hundred others waiting.
Subject line says what you need. "Leave request: 14 to 16 September" beats "Question". Many people decide whether to open an email from the subject alone.
Put the ask in the first sentence. Background goes underneath. People read the first line and then skim, so an ask buried in paragraph three often never gets seen.
Say when you need it by. "By Thursday" prevents a week of waiting followed by an apology.
You need approval for something by Thursday.
What happens: They read the first line, decide it is not urgent, and come back to it on Monday. Your deadline passed and neither of you knows why.
What happens: They know what is needed and by when, from the first line. Whether they read the rest is now their choice rather than your risk.
When should I use Reply All?
Only when everyone on the list genuinely needs your reply. "Thanks" to fourteen people is the most common workplace irritation there is. If your reply is only useful to the sender, use Reply.
What about CC and BCC?
CC means for information, no action needed, and everyone can see who is there. BCC hides the recipients from each other. Use BCC when emailing a group of people who should not see each other's addresses, and never use it to secretly copy someone into a conversation, because that goes badly when it comes out.
I am angry about an email
Write the reply and do not send it. Wait an hour or, better, until the next morning. Almost nobody has regretted waiting, and a great many careers have been dented by a reply sent in ten seconds. If it is serious, speak to the person instead, because tone does not survive email.
Before you move on
- Put the ask in the first sentence
- Say when you need it by
- Never reply to an angry email immediately
Check what you know
3 questions. Have a look at what this lesson asks.
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