There are lots of email annoyances that make us groan:

• When “Reply All” is used instead of “Reply”
• When someone has a bad grammar or spelling error
• When someone replies to the wrong person (the “wrong Bob” problem)
• Weird formatting errors (like sudden font changes)

I was intrigued by Chris Anderson’s Email Charter (from June 2011) but I didn’t think it was quite right for my organization (a Community College) and a little too technical when dealing with students.  So I wrote the following “Email Manifesto” that I think would improve dealing with the most time-sucking email problems at my college and presented it to the faculty yesterday.  It consists of eight basic axioms:

1.  An email should have one clear subject.

2.  Emails should be simple to respond to and to dismiss when completed.

3.  When an email “conversation” takes a U-turn into new territory, a new subject line is in order.

4.  Need to arrange for an in-person meeting? Suggest several possible meeting times in the first email communication.

• If the person has a secretary, include them in the meeting request.
• If there are several people involved, use a Doodle.

5.  If you want the recipient to take additional action outside their normal routine, make it as easy as possible for them to do so.

• Don’t place the text of the message within an attached document if it can be pasted into the body of the email.
• Include an easy-to-share blurb and link to website for more information for events, in particular.
• Don’t link to files on drives that are only available on-site.

6.  If the message contains a lot of information, make required actions clear (bold them or use another color of text).

• Use phrasing like “What I need from you is …”
• Consider placing the actions at the beginning of the email, followed by the rationale.

7.  There’s nothing wrong with a short email message or response – don’t take offense when you get one. The important thing is that the recipient took the time to read and respond. Lots of emails get answered from a very tiny keyboard or touch-keyboard.

8.  Because it’s difficult to read voice inflection, facial expressions, or body language from an email, consider using emoticons or expressions to convey these emotions.

• Perhaps this is a jestful comment: Are you kidding me?
• Perhaps it makes you sad: Are you kidding me?
• Perhaps it makes you angry: Are you kidding me? <fuming>
• Perhaps you are sympathizing: Are you kidding me? <hug>

There are handouts (short and long) and a slide presentation.

Please feel free to share the Email Manifesto, modify it, and give the presentation – just include the author slide with my contact information.  Just a note about the presentation, when you get to the slides about Axiom #8, have your audience read each statement out loud.  This will quickly make the point about why we should use emoticons in email.

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