Use email when:
 

1.            It is important that your audience gets your message.
This is a where a push medium is the right solution - a notice on a board or in a magazine, or an article on the intranet would not do the trick.

2.           You need to deliver a message to more than one person.
It is simply more practical and economic to deliver the same message to multiple recipients using email rather than phone calls, memos or one-to-one meetings.

3.           You want a quick but not an instant response.
Email will get to the recipient more quickly than a letter or a video, but you won’t get a response as fast as with a ‘phone call or turning up in person.

4.           Your audience is at a distance.
The fact that email is an online medium means that distance is no object. It will be much cheaper than a long-distance call and faster than the snail mail.

5.           You want time to compose your message.
Use email in preference to a ‘phone call or in-person meeting, if you need to compose your message carefully.

6.           You require a record of your message.
Whether it’s stored on disk or printed out, an email can give you a permanent record of your message, something that’s more difficult to achieve with the ‘phone or working face-to-face.

Don’t use email when:

1.            It is not essential that all of your audience gets the message.
You shouldn’t get emails because someone else needs to read them.

2.           You need an immediate response.
If you’re in a real hurry, use the ‘phone or use the legs for the purpose for which they were intended.

3.           You are delivering sensitive information.
At worst the recipient needs to hear the tone of your voice and that means getting on the phone. Much better is to say it in person, when your body language can do most of the talking.

4.           Text is not a powerful enough medium.
If you need to convey complex processes or principles, to grab attention or influence attitudes, then text is unlikely to be enough. That’s why we have graphics, audio and video.

5.           You are agitated.
Sometimes it’s more tempting to say what you think in writing than on the phone or in person. Don’t. It’s e-rage and it’s not good for your career. If you are agitated, it’s better not to communicate at all. Take a walk!

emailStripper

Email Stripper  is a free program for cleaning the ">" and other formatting characters out of your emails. It will restore "forwarded" or "replied" emails back to their original state so they're easier to read.

Download emailSTRIPPER