5 Email Mistakes I Made So That You Don't Have To

When I was in my early twenties as an intern, there was an email blast to the People Team. I forget what the memo had but everything after, I remember crystal clear.  

I liked what I read and I replied back: “Wow, thanks. This is great. Thank you so much!” 

Within a minute, one of our directors replied:

“Kaila,

Please don’t hit “Reply All” unless the message is absolutely necessary to know or to take action on for everyone. This only crowds our inbox.

Thanks.” 

Me: *frozen at my keyboard, rereading the thread, thinking what I did wrong*

(minutes pass) 

Me: *still frozen at my keyboard, still confused and still want to keep my job* 

Me: I’m so sorry, thanks for the feedback.

Me: *breathes again*

In the VP of Engineering’s office, there was this vertical poster that read in large text: Nothing good comes from ‘Reply All.’  

Now, every company has its unique culture. Every team has its preferred communication style. I’d say 8 out of 10 emails I sent were to other teams, some who I knew and some who I was addressing for the first time.


Here are the 5 email mistakes, in addition to the one above, that I made in my first job, so you can avoid them—

1. Not being EXPLICIT ENOUGH

When you send an email, it should answer 2 questions for the recepient:

  1. why am I receiving this?

  2. what do you want me to do about it?

You’ll receive a faster response when these 2 questions are answered.

If you can’t answer those questions, maybe you don’t even need to send an email in the first place.

Sometimes, you’ll send an email just for awareness and be sure to type that in, such as “No action needed, just wanted to you to be aware” or “FYI: We’re approved” or simply “FYI.”

This makes it easy for the reader to know why you’re telling them something and what you expect them to do.


2. Not calling out NEW PEOPLE YOU CCED in

You wouldn’t stand in a circle having a conversation and pull 2 people in, expecting others standing by you not to suddenly wonder “….sooooo who are they?”

The same thinking generally goes for email.

When a task needs to be handed off or someone needs to be looped in, you'll add them to the thread.

Take a line to explain it.

Like saying “ccing my colleague Sam for review” OR “ccing Sam for next steps” OR “Sam (cced) will take a look.”

What you specifically say is dependent on how well everyone knows everyone, of course.

People notice the “To” and “CC” part of emails way more than you think. Seeing a new person on the thread without explaining is like expanding the conversation circle without doing any introductions.

You make it weird.


3. SENDING A GENERIC SUBJECT LINE

Some examples of unhelpful subject lines are “Next Steps” or “Following Our Conversation” 

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These are too elusive when you’re sending a new message.

I recommend being as specific as possible in your subject line, like “Next Step: Book keynote speaker, received approval from CRO” or “Following up: Podcast guest on May 7th confirmed.”

Think about this—

Most people are reading email alerts that come through on their phone. So having a short, important detailed subject line is critical.

BONUS TIP: If you have a question for the person, I like putting the question in the subject line itself and including the context in the body. 

For instance—

Subject: Can you take a look at this All Hands draft and provide feedback by EOW?

Body:
Hi Rose,

I attached the All Hands draft to the email. Can you review and forward any feedback you might have by Friday, please?

Thanks,


4. NOT USING THE ENTER KEY MORE

Space is your friend.

Don’t write in long paragraphs. 

Seeing a long paragraph email is the equivalent of a big pile of laundry that needs to get folded.

It’s going to take WORK to get through it.

Be thoughtful in your formatting, like spacing out your sentences, bolding an action item, ending it with a stand-alone question, etc.

Use the ENTER key.

5. NOT GETTING TO THE POINT FASTER

Solution to this: Write your email all out, then put your last sentence, first.

This is a hack I learned from one of my old managers.

Doing this helps you get to the point first and then explains the why.

This is what I mean—

He’d start drafting an email with what he’s looking for, like communicating next steps, requesting help, or pivoting in a plan, etc. He’ll write out a couple lines and towards the end of it, where his thoughts become clearer on what he’s actually trying to say, he will have 1-2 succinct sentences that get to the point right away.

He’ll take those sentences and copy and paste them to the start of the email so that it gets to the point faster and the important part isn’t lost in the (equally important) details.

& HERE ARE MORE nuggets and a bit about where this advice comes froM:

  • My career has mainly been around sales professionals, who tend to have attention spans of 5.47 seconds

  • The higher up you email, like writing to c-suite, etc. the more concise you need to be

  • Assume the reader is on their mobile when reading your email

  • When appropriate, a gif reply will say more than text ever can

  • Write like a human being, that means not saying “Ma’am” or “Sir.”


Kaila Lim