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The Do’s and Don'ts of emails

Before hitting the "send" button, there are a few things to consider:

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Is my email too long?
Try to keep the email to about one page so that readers can read the entire mail without scrolling. Do spell out purpose of the email within the first paragraph.

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Did I include the right attachment?
Title the document that you are attaching in a way that is easy for the recipient to find once he or she downloads it. Before sending attachment of large file size, be sure you know your recipient’s mailbox capacity to avoid returned emails.

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Am I saying it right?
For each new subject email, it serves no harm to write some greetings! However, if you are responding to emails over the same topic (for example, a meeting day and time), greetings can then be excluded.
In your subject line, write an appropriate and specific subject that lets the recipient know what to expect.

Ø
Would it be better if I don't send the email?
Some issues, if dealt with through emails, may result in serious consequences should misinterpretation occurs. Among some of these issues are:

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Disciplinary action

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Conflicts about personal information

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Concerns about fellow colleagues

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Complaints

When a conflict arises, try to end it by a short and simple written response first. If it does not work, it maybe better to deal with the unpleasant situation by talking or meeting in person.

What is a Memo?

Memo can be used as a form of communication to solve problems within a company. In writing a memo, one should clearly state his/her purpose at the beginning, and request the action he/she wants at the end.

Planning for a memo

Depending on the purpose of your memo, there are several ways to prepare it:

1.
To convey routine information or relaying news, consider approaching your memo through direct plan. It starts out by stating the most important points, and moves to supporting details.

2.
When you need to arouse interests in your readers, the indirect plan maybe used. It makes an appeal or spews out evidence first and arrives at a conclusion/action to be taken based on these facts.

3.
When relaying bad news, a combination approach can be used for the balanced plan, as it combines information and persuasion.

Parts of a Memo

Heading - generally it follows this format:

TO: (readers' names and job titles)
FROM: (your name and job title)
DATE: (complete and current date)
SUBJECT: (what the memo concerns)

Opening - the opening paragraph mainly consists of 3 parts: context of your problem, specific task(s) required, or that you are undertaking in order to fix the problem, and the purpose of the memo. Be assertive that a real problem exists, but include only key information that decision-makers need.

Summary - a brief statement of your key recommendations. To make a strong statement, state references used to come to your ideas. But remember to keep it short and simple.

Discussion - Details that support your ideas can be spelled out in this part. Start with the most important information to get readers' attention to the matter. Vital details can be presented in the format of bullet points or tables.

Closing - In a courteous manner, state what action you may want your reader to make. The desired action can be beneficially to your readers, so state any that the action may bring.

Attachments (if any) - If you have prepared graphs, tables and other documents to support your findings, attach them at the end of the memo. Throughout your memo, you may need to make references to your attachments by adding notations such as this:

Business Writing Skills - General Overview

The letter below, although grammatically correct, is not well written. It is written in an unnecessarily official style using out-of date expressions and rather complex grammatical structures. It is also inconcise, using far more words than are needed. Finally, little attention has been paid to the structure and organisation of the document.

RE-WRITE

Dear Sir

RE: Savings Account No. 80-5-25467

Thank you for your letter dated 18 April 2003 with enclosure. As you instructed, we withdrew HKD17,884.00 from the above account on 13 April 2003 by issuing Cashier Order No. 483728 to "The Hong Kong Government". We delivered the cashier order to The Inland Revenue Department the following day to settle your tax. We have enclosed the relevant advice for your reference.

Please call us if we can be of further help.

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