3 Email Tips When Communicating with Multiple Recipients
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When it comes to email conversations that includes a group folks, communications can get mucked up. Whether it be business email or personal, there are a few things to keep in mind. These things help to keep communications on track and help to avoid unnecessary miscommunications.
Most importantly, think long and hard before clicking “Reply to All”. Unless “all” needs to be aware or cares about your comments — which is usually not the case.
Always remove any email addresses of those that don’t need to know. Next, consider if those you are sending to will be truly interested in your comments. If you are unsure, don’t include them. We all now have increased email volume. Don’t contribute unnecessarily to that.
Then, you add to the mix that many do not make the effort to learn how to down-edit emails. Especially when involved in ongoing conversations. Not doing so can cause confusion and the increased opportunity for miscommunications.
When we make readers have to weed through all the back-and-forths to find any new comments, the conversation loses its focus and overall value.
3 Simple Email Communication Tips
Follow these 3 simple tips when you find yourself involved in ongoing back-and-forth email conversations with multiple recipients:
- Use Reply to All sparingly and only when absolutely necessary. The majority of times, editing down the list of addresses to those who your comments directly apply to is recommended.
- Always down-edit ongoing conversations. Include only the information or comments from the previous email(s) that reflects specifically what you are replying to.
- If the overall topic of the conversation takes a new direction, change the Subject field to note the new focus. For example: Subject: Trip Details and Links WAS: Where should we go?
Just three little steps to help add clarity to your ongoing email conversations. And those you communicate with will most certainly be appreciative of your efforts.