Trish Skram’s Blog

Email is becoming the standard communication channel these days. That’s nothing new. Whether you’re a law enforcement officer/worker, marketer, student or online worker, you’re probably already spending a good percentage of your day in front of a computer and using email as your main means of communication, right? But just because you use email, doesn’t mean you’re doing it right, and most importantly, most effectively. If you rely on email to communicate as much as I do, you should ask yourself these 7 questions:

1. Do you limit to one screen or less?
If you answered yes to this question, you’re probably already writing short and succinct emails. That’s good. Whenever you are about to send an email, pause for a second and analyze if you could eliminate unnecessary words, phrases or even complete paragraphs. Most people will begin to scan rather than reading the email if the reader sees words running off the bottom of the screen, potentially missing the key elements of the message. Don’t worry about going straight to the point. In fact, that’s what you should do. Most people won’t be offended because you removed the “small talk.”

2. Do you write in bullets or sentences when there’s a lot to cover?
If you must write a long email (for whatever reason) you should use bullets. Online usability tests show that when people read messages off the computer screen, they find it easier to read and RETAIN the information if it’s broken down into bullet points, rather then long paragraphs.

3. Do you give the “meat and potatoes” in the subject line?
This one is so important because if you don’t craft the message of your subject line carefully, you won’t need too much in the body of the email. Here’s a good formula I follow for the subject line: subject + active verb + object. And try to be as specific as you can. For example, “Cancelled” is a bad subject line; “April mkg. meeting cancelled to May 9” is better.

4. When you send from your iPhone, do you tell people?
Some people think this is self-gloating but I disagree. If you’re a smart phone user, make sure you include a tagline by your signature telling recipients you’re using an electronic device. It will help explain why the message is short, possibly unclear (I cringe—you really should never misspell, but it happens.) If you don’t, your message may come off as rude.

5. Do you re-read and run your spell check?
I hope you said yes. Seems like common sense but most people are in a hurry and forget. It’s very unprofessional. Make it a habit to re-read and spell check every email before you send it. You should always be looking for errors, spelling mistakes, missing information, missing attachments and so on. I’m guilty of this too, folks! I’m no saint. But these mistakes will hurt your credibility. And, well, once you hit “send,” it’s hard to recall the message.

6. Do you ask questions?
I hope you do. Don’t use email as a one-way medium. Just like social media, the true power of email is its interactive capabilities. Managers, directors and supervisors: Do remember, this is a two-way street. If you’re going to encourage interaction with your employees, be sure you take time to answer them. If you don’t, it will set you up for possible reliability failure.

7. Do you organize, archive and store messages?
I made this mistake when I first started as a copywriter. Big mistake. Huge. I didn’t have evidence of a project/deadline and it really cost me my credibility in the long run. Make sure to organize, archive and save important messages. Outlook, Entourage, Gmail, Yahoo, they all have great saving and filing capabilities. If you’re like me, you don’t always have time to read all messages but you know you need to refer back. For example, if you just created an account for an online service like WordPress, you know they will send you a confirmation (of course), containing your user name and password. Archive these messages right way. An alternative to archiving is simply marking the messages as read, so they stay visible in your inbox.

What do you do to effectively communicate using email? Please share below.

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Technorati Tags: effective email communication tips, Random "Trish" Thoughts

Tired, zonked, drained. All great words to describe how we feel from time-to-time while at work, home or just doing every day things. Lately, I’ve been feeling really drained. Not sure if it is my schedule, stress or my workouts (training for a marathon.) Feeling tired, especially at work, can be a heavy on your life—it drags your workload down, lowers productivity and strengthens stress levels. If you’re a highly active person like me, it’s the worse feeling. However, over the years of living and breathing my profession, I’ve discovered a few great things you can do to get the energy back, quickly. Do remember though, folks, sometimes you just need some rest. Be sure to be mindful of when your body needs sleep and relaxation.

5 quick things you can do to re-energize:

Knock out distractions: Again, this is always good advice—but when you’re tired, it has triple affects. Stay out of your email, don’t log into Facebook and don’t keep taking breaks from the task at hand. It’s so easy to get distracted when you’re not focusing well and it only makes it harder to concentrate. Social media can be a BIG distraction. So is television. Try to stay away from “just checking Facebook” and spending the next hour looking at your cousin’s holiday pics. We’re all guilty of this while at work. So every time your attention wanders, direct it straight back to what you’re supposed to be working on.

Workout: If you’re feeling sleepy, the worst thing to do is to sit down somewhere warm and comfy—you’ll almost certainly nod off. Instead, make sure you move around frequently. Get up and stretch, go for a brisk walk and get your body moving. This is a good idea if you get that mid-afternoon slump: walking around will shake it off.

Take a Shower (or freshen up): Getting into a shower will really wake you up when you’re feeling sluggish. If you’re struggling to even get out of bed, head straight for the shower: as soon as you’re under that running water, you’ll feel considerably awake. If you work from home, a mid-afternoon shower can be a great pick-me-up when you’re tired. If you’re in an office, splashing your face with cold water, or freshening up your makeup can be a good refreshing alternative.

Do the easier stuff: If you’re feeling really tired but you still need to get a project done, try doing more routine tasks: things like replying to emails, filing documents, organizing your desk, market research and so on. Often, your energy will naturally pick back up while you work.

Chat with others. Pick up your cell phone and call a friend or go next door and make small talk with a co-worker. Some of you may consider this tip a distraction, I tend to think it’s a great way to boost creative thinking. If you’re like me, you like to collaborate on a daily basis. We’re communicators, right?

So, what works for you? We all have our remedies. Please share below.

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Technorati Tags: communicators' advice, how to energize when feeling tired, social media, Trish Srkam