How to write better work emails

The pros and cons of work emails

Work email servers, like Outlook, are great tools to use whether you’re working from the office or at home. Using emails is a great way to keep record of what’s being said and what’s being sent. You can also use work emails to leave messages for coworkers who aren’t signed in or online for work at the time.

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However, using emails as a main form of communication amongst colleagues can have its drawbacks. Your tone may be unintentionally tense when the receiver reads your message. You may have too much detail or not enough detail. You also can’t guarantee the receiver will open or read your email.

Tips for writing effective work emails

Writing work emails is a task that you can strive to always improve. If you take the time to learn how to write better work emails, you’ll probably find more success in getting what you’re asking from the receiver. There are things you can do to increase the likelihood that your email will be received, opened, read, and perceived well. Follow these email writing tips to improve how effective your emails are.

Write a subject line

It won’t matter what you write in the email if no one reads it. Include a subject line that’s informational and enticing so the receiver will want to open it. Email subject line best practices say you should include the most important details before the receiver opens the email. This information may be the what, when, who, and/or how.

For example, don’t use Important! as a subject line because it’s vague and doesn’t provide any detail as to what the email is about. Instead, you could write a subject line that reads, Quarterly Meeting on Monday, Dec. 12th at noon. RSVP by Dec. 5th. This subject line describes what the receiver can expect when they open the email and other relevant actions they’ll need to take.

Keep your message concise

Don’t overpack your emails with unimportant details. If your email is unnecessarily long, the receiver may miss the important information if they try to skim your message instead of fully reading it. Only include the details that are important to the subject. If you feel like there will be a lot of back-and-forth correspondences about the topic, you may want to suggest having a phone call or virtual meeting to speak in more detail.

Include important information near the top

Don’t bury the lede. You and the receiver may have different definitions of what a “long email” is, so it’s essential that you include the important details near the top of your email. The goal is to make sure they get all the necessary information they need, even if they don’t read the entire email.

Take advantage of font features

In the cases where your email is long because it includes a lot of important information, using font features can help distinguish the most important points. Some email service providers, like Outlook, allow you to bold, italicize, and underline email text. You may also be able to incorporate bulleted and numerical lists to separate information in the email’s body. The receiver will be able to quickly point out this distinguished text so that they know the most important points of your email.

Incorporate good manners

Communicating via email is different than how you communicate face-to-face with your coworkers. In person, your colleagues will be able to see your body language, facial expressions, and hear your voice’s tone. However, the receiver can’t see any of these things in your email. Be selective about the words, punctuation, and capitalization you use. Incorporate polite words and phrases, like please and thank you, to ease the tone of your message.

Proofread before you send it

Your emails are reflections of your professional communication, so you should prevent unnecessary errors where you can. Proofread your message to check for misspellings, incorrect words and punctuation, and missing details that are important. Make note of the length of your email and see if there are things you can cut or reword for conciseness.

When you’re working from home, it can be harder to get your intentions across in emails. Using these tips to write better work emails can help get you what you need and show up as a respectful and likeable person to work with.