Email for Leaderswww.transphorm.tech
What This Is • The companion presentation for “The Leader’s Guide to
Email”, a blog post on www.mack24x7.com
• A great way to jump start your journey toward better email communication for your team or company
What This Is NOT • The full PowerPoint version. Think of it as us protecting our
IP while still giving you the content
• A silver bullet to fix all of your team’s email communication issues
We hold these truths to be self-evident:
• Over 90% of problems in relationships (both professional AND personal) are directly related to communication issues.
• Email is generally adopted as the preferred method of “official” internal communication at just about every company.
• Communication over email presents challenges that, if ignored, have the potential to sabotage business relationships and corporate performance.
• If you make an honest effort to implement the changes suggested in this presentation, your communication and business relationships could become stronger.
• This should NOT be the end of the journey for your team. Effective communication is an ever-evolving process that should be nurtured formally and informally, both up and down the chain of command.
www.transphorm.tech
Why Email Sucks • It’s black and white – there is no way to show voice
modulation, hand gestures, etc.
• It magnifies any existing communication issues you have.
• It goes on the permanent record. Emails can stay on the email server much longer than you think, even if you delete them on your machine or in your Inbox.
Why It Doesn’t Matter • Corporate email is most likely here to stay.
• The average business user receives 88 emails per day and sends 34.**
• Only 12 of those 88 emails are spam.**
• That leaves 110+ opportunities every single day to increase email communication effectiveness.
**Source: “Email Statistics Report” by Radicati. www.radicati.com
www.transphorm.tech
• There are 110+ opportunities to use email properly for every corporate user
• So, there are 110+ opportunities for recipients to feel confused, alienated or ignored
• Since this is a “Leader’s Guide”, guess whose fault it is if any recipient of your email is confused, alienated or ignored?
• For email purposes, everyone is a leader. You and you alone are in charge of ensuring that every email that comes from your account is clear and concise
www.transphorm.tech
I don’t have time to reply to every email. I don’t even have time to figure out which are important and which I can ignore.
• This is another way to say “I have poor time management skills, poor leadership skills, or both.” No exceptions.
• If YOUR team cannot compose emails in such a way as to make that easy for you, guess whose fault that is?
• Just like any pervasive communication pattern, it is the leader’s fault.
• Are you sensing the pattern here yet?
www.transphorm.tech
• You should provide all REQUIRED responses (definition on next slide).
• You should do so within 24 hours. No exceptions.
• If you fail to do this, you are saying one of the following, where you mean to or not:
• “I have more important things to worry about than responding to your email right now.” This is acceptable as a response. Example:
Swamped right now. Circle back with me next week.
• “This is not my problem” or “I cannot help you.” Also acceptable. Example:
I can’t help you with this. Try reaching out to Ralph Warren.
• “My time is more valuable than yours,” This is a given. It does not mean you get to shirk your email responsibilities. Ever.
www.transphorm.tech
Non-Negotiable
• If ANY business email ASKS you for ANYthing EVER, a response is REQUIRED. No exceptions. Simple.
Negotiable
• Whatever works for the team. Example: a weekly email preceding a standing meeting, where the accepted standard is that anyone should “Reply All” with any proposed agenda items or asking for dedicated meeting time. No “ask” is necessary.
www.transphorm.tech
• The goal is to, from just the subject and first paragraph, know if you should respond, ignore, archive, etc.
• Until your team implements the techniques in the Writing and Responding sections, this goal will be tough to reach.
• If there are any attributes you can use to pre- qualify and set up an Inbox Rule, go for it. But MAKE SURE that you closely monitor the rule at first. Even one improperly routed email is too many.
• As your team starts to compose better emails, classifying them should become easier.
www.transphorm.tech
• Do unto others…
• So simple, but a very good way to conduct yourself in most things…including corporate email.
• Your location in the organization chart speaks for itself.
• You don’t have to act like a jerk for folks to know you are in charge.
• This is especially true over email, with no facial expression, hand gestures, etc.
• This includes active (writing and responding) and passive (failing to respond, and the message it conveys) conduct.
www.transphorm.tech
• This section will contain several techniques your team can use to compose better emails.
• Practice the techniques until they become second nature, and include as many of them as possible in EVERY email.
• Drive toward better communication, less confusion and more efficient time management.
www.transphorm.tech
• Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) is a concept taken from military communication where you make every effort to put the most important information right at the beginning of the communication.
• It is designed to facilitate INFORMED rapid decision making where consequences are the most dire. Probably good enough for your team also, right?
• For emails, BLUF facilitates classification and proper responses.
www.transphorm.tech
• If you are asking for something, put it in the email. This is far too often overlooked.
• The Ask, if it’s part of the email, is usually the most important part. Use BLUF and put it near the top.
• You can even highlight it with key words in the email subject. Examples:
Information Architecture First Draft – ACTION REQUESTED
Information Architecture First Draft – APPROVAL NEEDED
www.transphorm.tech
• Make your email only as long as it needs to be.
• Be draconian with yourself and others as you implement this technique. If there are 7 words when 6 will do, point it out. Notable “extra words” that are always approved:
• Please
• Thank You
• Some topics of discussion require extensive verbiage. See next slide for how to use an Executive Summary.
• This is related to The Golden Rule slide from earlier. Everyone has gotten an email of 3 paragraphs when 3 sentences would have done the trick. Do your recipients a favor.
www.transphorm.tech
• Think of this as an approach, not a section of the email. Notable exceptions:
• You are actually communicating with one or more executives.
• The subject matter is complex enough to warrant it.
• If using the Executive Summary, call it out. Clearly. Put it up front (BLUF) and use the words “Executive Summary” right at the top.
• Even if you don’t feel like you need an Executive Summary, use this and other techniques:
• Hit the highlights in a clear, concise manner at the very top of the email (BLUF)
• No more than one bullet point with one sentence for each major point you will cover in the detailed information that comes below (Economize)
• Close the section with “See Below For More Detailed Information” or something similar
www.transphorm.tech
• Who | What | Where | When | Why | How
• Use as many of these as practical or possible. Every time.
• Use them in your Asks. Use them in your Responses.
• Be as clear as you need to be. I have seen this technique, and it works.
Subject: Please Issue Corporate Laptop for Ed Jones
Body:
When – ASAP
www.transphorm.tech
• Be as clear and concise as possible.
• It you have a specific request, reference it in the Subject line and/or put it at the top of the email. Use words like “Request” or “Decision”.
• Clearly call out as many W5H elements as appropriate.
• If practical, include an Executive Summary.
• Hold yourself and others accountable for writing better emails.
• Practice, practice, practice.
Subject: Basketball Tickets for Client ABC – APPROVAL REQUIRED
Body: Mr. Johnson:
Requested Action: Please pre-approve the expense described below ASAP. Simply click Reply and enter the one-word response “Approved”.
Details: We want to take some executives from Client ABC to a basketball game tomorrow night and sit in the club level. Our group size (7) and ticket price ($100) will cause us to exceed the preapproved entertainment threshold of $500 and thus requires Director pre-approval.
Respectfully,
www.transphorm.tech
• In order to craft a response, you have to WRITE an email. Therefore, all techniques in the previous section are appropriate.
• This section will cover things that are unique about responses, as well as some specific techniques for making your responses better.
www.transphorm.tech
• If you are the recipient of an email that requires a response, there is an implicit task created, and you are the OWNER of that task.
• This does NOT mean: • You own the task forever.
• You have to complete the task yourself.
• This DOES mean: • You bear responsibility for keeping the Chain of
Custody alive for that task.
• You must exercise one of the approved options on the following slide.
www.transphorm.tech
As the owner of an email response task, you have the following options:
Each option is covered separately on the following slides.
CompleteIgnore ReferDefer
• Included only because it is in the realm of possibilities.
• Unacceptable on every level by any employee. Even worse by a leader.
• Chain of Custody Implications: If you or your team is ignoring emails, Chain of Custody is the least of your problems.
www.transphorm.tech
• This is self-explanatory.
• You take ownership of the response and complete it on your own.
• Chain of Custody Implications: None. Task is complete. If follow-up actions are required, you have used your new skills to identify that in your response or a separate email. That generates a new task with a new Chain of Custody.
www.transphorm.tech
• Deferral is an effective tool for any email user, but especially leaders.
• Deferral does NOT relieve you of your responsibility for the original task.
• Chain of Custody Implications: None. You still own the task. An effective time management technique for leaders is to maintain task ownership but delegate an action for moving the process forward to the original requestor. Example:
I do not have time to complete this right now. If you require an immediate decision, please Reply ASAP. If not, please email me a reminder early next week.
www.transphorm.tech
• In a referral, you involve a third party that has potentially not yet been involved.
• When crafting this response, it is imperative to CC: the third party. An effective technique is to also call out the CC: in the body of the response, like so:
I cannot help you with this. Please contact Carl Evans (CC:’d on this email) for assistance.
• Chain of Custody Implications: You have officially transferred task ownership. Congrats, you are off the hook!
www.transphorm.tech
Hopefully, you have taken the following key concepts away from this presentation:
• Failing to respond to emails that require a response is unacceptable and rude.
• Improving email communication can start at any level of the organization and radiate outward.
• There are some simple techniques that are easy to implement that will help your entire team communicate more effectively.
www.transphorm.tech
www.transphorm.tech