Email: Be The Change That You Seek

Cyber Challenge 1: Email Deluge ! !

Effective email can save businesses a significant amount of money, and significantly improve efficiency in Cyber (and other business areas). As an example: a single "Reply All email" that takes 5 minutes to read, if read by 25 people, costs the business two hours of work. If we conservatively assume recovery rates average around ￡500 per day per person, then this individual Reply All may cost a business ￡125. Over the years, I have personally seen upwards of 100 Reply All emails a week which may cost more than ￡10,000 per week.

Back in 1994 we got an angry email about "Ski Boots For Sale" from my CEO where someone had sent an advert to over 500 people and we had to remove the "Everyone" distribution list from the mail server and we had to add mandatory training on email etiquette to all email training courses. Ironically, the CEO then sent out a "reply all" memo in response as well.

Nowadays email etiquette has all but disappeared into the mists of time, so I decided that if I wanted to make things better that I needed to become the change I was seeking by defining and publishing my commitment to writing and sending (or even not sending) better emails. A link to my commitment, laid out below, is in my signature block and every time I send an email, I also send a link to this commitment. Whenever a new colleague trials this approach we save someone, or several someones, some time and the more people try this out and persist with it, the better our immediate email world gets.

It takes very little time to learn the system - I hope you'll join me...

My Commitment to Writing C.L.E.A.R. emails

Re:   Action:   More Effective and Less Time-Consuming Email

I spend most of my day writing / replying to emails and have decided to try and make a difference to people receiving my emails by making them more targeted and quicker to read.

A good email is made up of three main components: The Subject Line; The content; and, the addressees.

Getting this right will reduce the amount of time it takes others to read and respond to emails. If we were all try to do this, we would reduce the email burden on our colleagues and, who knows, we may affect the change we seek (less and better targeted emails).

I will be taking a few extra seconds with every email I send or reply to in order to get the subject, content; and, addressees right.

Step one: Subject Lines

When I send an email, I will make it easier for you to prioritise without opening it by using subject line prefixes and suffixes:

• FYI – For Your Information. It tells the reader that no reply is needed and is usually a short message. Example: “FYI Free sandwiches in the kitchen”.
• URGENT – Used for when something is urgent. Don’t use it if something is not urgent. And if something is truly, truly urgent, it’s best to follow up with a call or IM as well. Example: “URGENT: Final reminder to file quarterly team reports”
• ACTION TODAY – Action is required today. As per urgent, if possible, follow up with a quick call or IM. Example: “ACTION TODAY- expenses claims must be submitted by 5pm”
• EOM – End of Message. This is usually used when the entire email is in the subject line. (UNIX gurus will already know this). Example: The lift is broken today, please use stairs EOM.
• NRN – No Reply Needed. Indicates that the receiver doesn’t need to reply. There is likely a body to the message, but no response is needed. Example: “Sarah wants you to call her back NRN”.
• NFA – No Further Action. Same as combination of FYI and NRN. For your notification only, no action or reply needed. Example: “Mr. Gupta will be in at 11am not 10am NFA”
• SOCIAL – This email is informal and may relate to something you’ve chatted about but don’t want to make a formal record or may relate to a social event or clubs. Example: “SOCIAL: Some thoughts on… “ or “SOCIAL: Anyone fancy a virtual beer on Friday?”

There are lots of good internet resources on this topic including: This where I took my inspiration from.

Step two: Content of Emails

When I send someone an email, I will try to answer 5 questions:

C:          Is it CONNECTED to their job?

L:          Give them a LIST of things you want them to do about this information

E:         What do you EXPECT them to do about this information (and by when)?

A:         What is their ABILITY in this regard? How can they uniquely help here?

R:         What is the RETURN on investment (Them or the company)?”

There are many frameworks people can use to construct CLEAR emails one of which is BLUF is (Bottom Line Up Front) which works well for senior staff in the business. Others include GROW (Goals, Reality, Options, What Next) and STAR (Situation, Task/Action, Response needed).

 Step 3: Before Sending:

And before I click send, I will take a few seconds to think about these questions:

1. Who am I sending this email to? (I will not just click reply all)
2. Do I have the right addressees and are these the right people? (I will consciously choose my email addresses to avoid accidents)
3. What will the impact be from cc’ing in other people, senior staff, suppliers? (I will be good with other people’s time and show respect for the individual)
4. Is it critical I get these details 100% correct? (Before sending emails to senior staff I will send a draft to myself so I can catch errors)

(please feel free to add your own variations and improve this idea).

Want to read more? Here’s a few links that may be of interest to you:

CLEAR: https://www.amazon.com/Simplicity-Competitive-Advantage-Better-Faster/dp/0738204307/ref=ase_timsanderscom-20/103-2059469-7060630?s=books&v=glance&n=283155&tagActionCode=timsanderscom-20

BLUF: https://www.animalz.co/blog/bottom-line-up-front/

GROW: https://www.agilecentre.com/grow-model-explained/

Also...

I’m writing a few articles in my spare time about #PeopleCentredCyber:

1.CyberChallenge1:EmailDeluge-Email:BeTheChangeThatYouSeek

2.CyberChallenge2:SalesCallsDeluge-Salescalls-BeTheChangeThatYouseek

3.CyberChallenge3:SpeakingofCyber...-CyberTalk:BeTheChangeThatYouSeek

and...

4.Coming soon…CyberChallenge4:DoingTheRightThing-TheCybercraticOath-BetheChangeThatYouSeek

5.Coming soon:...CyberChallenge5:TeamCreation-BuildTheTeamYouNeed-BeTheChangeThatYouSeek