Asking for something over email
I’ve learned people are much more apt to help me out if I make my email requests easy to answer.
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Category: Write better emails
Put this in your kudos folder
Vague compliments certainly aren’t bad. But to make gratitude meaningful, to prove you’re paying attention and really understand how someone’s actions and decisions and talent combine into something worth noting, you need to scratch a bit below the surface.
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Scheduling and signing off
In this edition of Write Better Emails, five key things to include when you’re trying to schedule something, plus our advice on keeping your email signature boring and utterly unremarkable.
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Replying to angry emails
The best thing to do when you’re on the receiving end of a “What the hell happened here?!” or a “This is unacceptable!” email is to think of it as a great opportunity to show how cool you are under pressure, not as you getting in trouble. This, we realize, is pretty worthless advice.
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Emailing when you’re angry
I feel compelled to write Bad News emails because I don’t have a very practiced in-case-of-emergency plan. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I know I’m supposed to dump baking soda on a grease fire. Similarly, I think I know to be cool-headed and gracious when there are work fires to put out. But it’s a challenge to override the instinct to just run around flapping my arms. Or, to blast off outraged emails. In this edition: when to not email, what to do instead, and how to calm your rage.
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Just checking in
Our second installment of Write Better Emails: What to say instead of “just checking in,” plus how you know it’s time to send that follow-up email.
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