Hi everyone,
As you know, the majority of ACC’s communication is happening over email these days. Staff members are receiving and sending hundreds of emails per week. We thought we’d reach out to everyone with a few pointers for helpful email tips, to ensure that we can do our jobs as efficiently as possible.
Here are some specific things to pay attention to, to make sure that important information isn’t lost in the internet ether, and that lines of communication are clear.
Subject Line
The subject line is very important to your email for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, it helps the receiver(s) know what the contents of your email are in regard to. Second, a well-chosen subject line makes it easier to sift through your inbox when searching for specific information.
For instance, if you have the subject line “RE: Virtual Worship” that will pull up hundreds of email results, making it difficult to find. However, if you title your email, “RE: June 21, 2020 Virtual Worship: Testimony” it will make it much easier to find.
Basically, the idea is make your subject as specific as possible, if it needs to be searched for.
Email Body
The body of the email should be where you type out your message. This can be short or long, but should always include the details about the relevance of the email. If multiple people are included on the email, do make sure to address why they are included. If you need to draw specific attention to any details or actions to an individual, please make sure to address them by name with any necessary instructions.
Attachments
When attaching a file to an email or using a file share platform like Google Drive or Drop Box, make sure that your file/image/document has a title that is easily distinguished and searchable much like your subject line is. Having a file/image/document titled “My Song 4,” “IMG,10745,” “Document 7,” etc.. will make it hard to find and can often be mixed up with other files as they may even share a generic name with another existing file. A good example of an attached or shared document would be, “Pic of John and Jane for 6/28/20 for Worship Video” or “Prelude: On Golden Pond for 6/28/20 Worship Video,” etc…
Reply or Reply All?
When replying to an email where multiple people are included, please make sure to only reply to the people the information is relevant to and include why it is relevant to them. When Reply All is used frequently to people that don’t necessarily be included, it makes them less likely to read the information and perhaps miss vital information in the future. Hitting Reply All also has the consequence of an overloaded inbox, which can also make it difficult to find relevant information.
Reply or New Email?
When sending an email, it is also important to only reply if it is relevant to the current email thread. For instance, if you are communicating with the pastor about the coming week’s worship, you should only reply to a thread if it is relevant to that week’s worship material. If you also need to talk to the pastor about another subject like scheduling a meeting, make sure to start a new email with an appropriate Subject Line to distinguish the two conversations from one another.
Even if a conversation is ongoing, it’s often best to start a new email thread at a certain point, to avoid information overload.
To…
If you address your email to multiple people, you may want to specify why that person is being included in the body of the email. For instance, if you send an email about something that pertains to a council meeting, and you include the Office Administrator in in the “to…” please include any pertinent actions that need to be taken like “Jacob, please print 10 copies of this document” or “Please save this for future records.” You don’t always need to tell every person why they are included, but if you expect a certain action to be carried out or need to draw their attention to something specific, do make sure to mention it in the email body.
Forwarding
Much like an email with multiple recipients or a well-formed email body, it is important to explain why an email is being forwarded and to highlight the information you want that/the recipient(s) to be aware of.
If you are forwarding a forwarded message, or a message that has a long thread of information, it is especially important to be clear what information is relevant.
To sum up the Basic Ideas…
-Be specific to who and why an email is being sent.
-Title your emails and attachments so they are easily distinguishable, searchable, and relevant.
-Be concise with your message.
-Reply and Forward only to whom the information is needed and explain any necessary actions.
-New Email, Reply, or Forward based on the subject of the conversation and it’s relevant participants.
Communication technologies can be overwhelming and are constantly changing. Even the most technically savvy among us can have a difficult time keeping up. While I’m not the most gifted in this arena, I’m happy to help with any questions that you have about the above or other subjects to the best of my ability.
I’m proud to be a part of the team at ACC and admire this congregation’s ability to adapt to the times of COVID.
Warmest Regards,
Jacob Day
ACC Office Administrator
acc.staff@sbcglobal.net