Avoid these email mistakes

- Most of us approach our emails trying to be as efficient as possible. But I want to challenge you again to stop and think about your email as part of your personal brand. With that in mind, here are some common things you may want to stop doing since they generally annoy email readers. Sending unimportant messages as high priority. You want your most important messages to stand out. Save the flag for high importance if your email is actually urgent. Failing to update your out-of-office message. Letting people know that you won't be in the office is helpful, but sending unnecessary messages once you return isn't. Make sure you turn it off once you've returned to the office and double check the dates before resetting it. Listing too much information in your email signature. You can create multiple versions of your email signature: one for external messages and another for internal messages. You can also specify if you want a shorter signature for replies and forwards. Forgetting attachments. Many email clients will let you know if you've forgotten to attach a document. So slow down and confirm your attachments are linked. Sending huge files. Save large files to a cloud and include the link. And while we're on the subject of attachments, next on my list is labeling attachments unclearly. Make sure you've given your attachments descriptive names and attach them in the order you've referenced them in your email. If I'm writing letters of recommendation, I can easily find a file labeled JSmithResume.doc, but we'd have to open multiple files named Resume.doc. Remember, documents you send live beyond the inbox. Make it easy for your reader to find them on their desktop by clearly labeling them. Forwarding messages without reading everything. You're responsible for the messages you send, even if you didn't write all of their contents. If you aren't going to take the time to read everything, delete the history before you forward the message. Responding to messages without reading the entire chain. Say you've been in meetings all morning and you've missed a bunch of emails from your team. Read everything in the chain before you respond to the thread. Using text speak in business emails. This last one can vary based on your relationship with the recipient. As a general rule, avoid using text lingo in professional emails. Remember, you don't have any control over where your message ultimately ends up.