Being able to write business-like emails is probably a major part of your job, whichever department you’re in. And being able to do this well will probably be a contributory factor in how much you are valued at work.
You must plan what you want to say and then make sure you have done it in a concise and clear way. At the same time you must give all the necessary information. We know that emails are, ideally, brief. But this is no excuse for omitting important information and then having to send a follow-up email.
When you have composed your message make sure that you check it very carefully before sending it. Once you have clicked the ‘send’ button it is on its way. You can’t change your mind.
In business you should use complete, grammatical sentences and paragraph your work sensibly. Never be over-familiar or try to be funny unless you know the recipient very well indeed. Your sense of humour may not be the same as theirs and could cause offence.
Before sending your email always use the spellcheck facility. But also read your work carefully because the spellcheck will not pick up mistakes such as “there” instead of “their” and “to” instead of “two”. Also, if you have typed an incorrect letter or missed one off the end of a word you might have put “the” instead of “then” or “now” instead of “not”. You can imagine the confusion if you write:
We have not installed virus software
instead of
We have now installed virus software.
Many computers also have a grammar check. This can sometimes be helpful, but not always. If you understand why it is pointing out that your grammar is faulty this may be helpful, but if you don’t understand there is no benefit. So, it’s far better to make sure the grammar is correct from the start.
In business, never use short forms for words, for example ‘u’ instead of ‘you’ or ‘c’ instead of ‘see’. And don’t use emojis! These are for personal correspondence, not business.
These days people expect a quick reply to their emails; so don’t forget to check your in-box frequently. You won’t usually need to keep a copy of any emails you have sent as you can access them in your ‘sent items’ folder. But, if you do need to keep a paper copy for your records, simply print one off.
And most systems allow you to ‘archive’ emails that you have dealt with/still need to deal with, if you don’t want to delete them, because you may need to refer to them again in the future.
If you want to send copies of letters, reports or minutes over the Internet, simply type them up in the usual way, save them and then attach the document to your email before sending it.
Finally, I’m not ashamed of repeating: always check your emails carefully before sending them. And, if you’ve said you’re attaching something, make sure it really is attached!
