How much of your time do you devote to sending, reviewing, and responding to emails?

At work, writing and sending emails is a typical form of communication.  Also, it is the most ideal method of communication, as it is quick and effective in all fields and all job functions.  Furthermore, with the increase in remote work (i.e., working from home) introduced in numerous workplaces, the frequency of writing, reading, checking, and responding to emails is increasing.

According to research from Statista, there are approximately 4 billion email users, and by 2024, this figure is expected to rise to 4.48 billion. However, the amount of emails received, sent and reviewed can lead to job stress and burnout. In other cases, you may be wondering and asking yourself, ‘How do I respond to this email’? If you want to spend less time worrying before clicking ‘send’, you need to get better at creating great emails that will save you time – which could be used more productively!

Here are three tips for creating the perfect business email

Tip 1 – Greeting

You only get one chance. Therefore, you must make sure that the first interaction is effective because first impressions stick with people. It is important to remember, that if you are writing to a colleague or someone you already have a connection with, you can start your email with “Hi” or “Hello”. However, if you are writing to someone you don’t have a formal business relationship with, like a client or a hiring manager, start with “Dear”.

Tip 2 – Understand your intention. What type of email would you like to convey?

Consider the following before composing your message: What result am I hoping my email would produce?  What am I requesting of the recipient (person who will receive the email)? Asking yourself these questions will allow you to produce emails with a clear intention. This is because business emails are normally brief, courteous, and sent with a specific goal in mind.

Make sure your subject line has information regarding the topic you want to talk about, so it is clear to the recipient. This will stop emails from being sent back and forth (send many emails) due to confusion.

Tip 3 – Get to the point. Keep your emails clear, concise, and brief

Researchers claim that every email is an interruption, so your email must be valuable if you are asking someone to read it. Jeff Su said in the Harvard Business Review, “Don’t waste time or words getting to your point, be clear with why you’re messaging and what you want”. Some of the important reasons why you write a professional email are to share information and provide updates to colleagues and/or other people.

Remember, a professional business email is normally the ultimate format for business communication because it saves people time. Therefore, avoid long messages, as short emails show you respect the recipient’s time.

Emails are here now and for the future. It is possibly the most efficient communication method in the world of business, and probably always will be. This shows that writing professional emails is an important skill to learn and takes time to practice. The tips mentioned above, however, will help you improve the skill of sending professional emails. 

You can receive similar tips for how to interact in the world of business through our Business English course.

Author: Uwais , English Teacher