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People often ask about writing for email. Is email different from a paper memo? Not really. The same ideas apply. Email is a tool that accomplishes the goal of communication more efficiently. The same ideas of structure apply: make sure to have a main point, a fact and an action statement. In fact, e-mail only emphasizes one of the characteristics we discuss often in this book: state the main point right away. Sometimes the computer screen shows the email viewer only the first few lines of your message. So your reader makes a judgment quickly on the lead.

The problem that most frequently arises with email is that it allows a person to do so much so often — maybe too much. You can write forever on a computer screen. It’s so simple to go on and on and on because you no longer have to bother with the complication of typing and removing typos. Also, it is possible, by email, to communicate with more people than necessary to accomplish your work goal.

Even with this advance in technology, the eight main questions still apply. Answer them before you begin to use the keyboard. Stay on your purpose; keep within your readers’ interests. Avoid the all too easy temptation to send the email to everyone in the organization.

Another aspect of electronic communication is speed. With email, people have told me they feel an added sense of urgency to respond. Yeah, could be. My suggestion is to go fast. Use the reply function of email to respond. It gets work out of the way. You don’t have to remember to write something and then write it. You just write it. Speed adds value at work.

Exercise

Different Points of View

You work for a major statewide bank as manager of the Remote City branch office, far from the main headquarters in the largest city in the state. The usual method of communication between you and your immediate boss is writing.

As part of the company’s New Business Campaign, you have devised an employee incentive program to increase deposits and loans at your branch. Your boss, Jim Melman, vice president of branch banking, announced the New Business Campaign a couple of months ago. He has asked each branch manager to think up a different, local employee incentive program, which will be part of the larger campaign.

The 11 members of your staff have read about the New Business Campaign in the company newsletter. They are waiting for their own local incentive program. You have decided the Remote City program will operate in two parts. Each will last six months. You want to make sure you can make changes in case the original ideas don’t work out. At the end of the first six months, you will see how well the program is doing and either continue it or change it for the last six months of the big campaign.

This is how your local program works: Most loans made, a television set; most savings dollars brought in, a microwave oven; second place in each category, a $20 gift certificate for dinner at the Chatterbox Cafe; third place in each category, two tickets to the Remote City High School Homecoming basketball game. All prizes are readily available to you now.

You must write a memo to Melman explaining how your local program fits into his larger campaign. You must write another memo explaining the incentive program to you local staff.