In contemporary times we can’t overemphasize the importance of the email. While stressing on the importance of the email, it can also be seen as a rich venue for miscommunication.
It is safe to discover that during physical conversations you get to interpret what you mean or meant to say, you get to know the recipient facial expression, body language as probably the feeling behind the voice but one major disadvantage of the mail is that you can possibly send something and the recipient gets it wrongly and gives a totally different meaning to your texts.
So how can You be direct and precise about your texts that can make it look polite as ever?
I will guide you through some certain mistakes we make unintentionally while composing our texts for mails.
1. Emails that skips greetings
Most times , probably out of rushing we send emails and forget to greet or send pleasantries to the recipient .
It is understood perfectly that you have to be direct, precise and be straight forward while sending a mail but regardless you have to send pleasantries first. Be nice and don’t sound rude or irresponsible.
Even in a formal environment when you see your boss or your colleagues the ideal thing to do is greet them and exchange pleasantries like Good morning, Hello and the likes is quite important and should not be avoided while sending a mail.
It is important to note that physically it is even more rude to approach people and just go to the point without greeting them. If you don’t know how to take your time to exchange pleasantries, addressing people or colleagues is a perfect way of kicking off a good professional relationship.
You don’t have to be too personal while greeting, but the display or touch of courtesy, ideal-ness and respect would be vital in a professional email.
2. Tagging of a mail as Urgent
It might not sound rude to you and nightly certainly means you are trying to emphasize on how urgent the mail is but little do you know, you are sending in a rude mail in the process.
You are in demand of something and tagging it as urgent could mean to the person as you are demanding and commanding the assistance you need. If it is as urgent as it is tagged, it would be advisable to call them, push for a physical meeting because it’s much harder to send an urgent mail to someone without sounding demanding to the person.
Besides, it is easier to reject and dismiss someone’s request rather than doing it physically.
3. “Thanks in advance “
You might be trying so hard to be respectful but little do you know that some people pick up offenses to this popular term.
Sending this ahead of a response from the recipient could be perceived wrongly. It could be viewed to the recipient as you assuming he/she is going to comply and do your biddings. So don’t be faster than the response of the recipient.
Be patient and wait for his response before sending him the gratitude mail.
4. Too much information than required
When you start giving too much information in a mail, it’s either the recipient doesn’t even read it finished or just glances through the mail. You should try as much as possible to be direct and precise, not beating around the bush or saying too much about a particular issue.
Trying to compose a mail, be sure to answer the questions of what exactly does the recipient need to know and how much does he need to know. Once you’ve answered these questions then you can compose the mail and would be direct and accurate.
5. Too many spelling errors
Be careful while sending a mail and ensure to steer clear of wrong grammar and spellings . Outside the fact that it could send a wrong meaning to the recipient, the recipient could see the message as a very devaluing mail and probably be of the opinion that you do not hold him/her in high esteem.
This is where the solution of proofreading every mail before it goes out. Ensure to re read your mails before sending to be sure it is free of grammatical errors and little mistakes.
Once you can steer clear off this little or unintentional mails , then you get more positive results from every mail you send.