Recently I saw on a company policy that “an email should be written professionally in the same way that you would write a letter or a fax”.  Hmmmm, wow!  I can’t remember the last time I used a fax let alone wrote one.  And, letters, what are they again?  What this highlights is a distinct lack of reference for an audience that has on the whole grown up with email – and now social media.  What actually constitutes good email writing?  And is an email a good way of communicating with your colleagues?  Here are my thoughts:

1.  Outline your objectives in writing an email:

Do you want someone to respond or take an action?

Are you simply informing (aka covering your butt)?

Would you be better served calling or setting up a meeting

2.  The style and content of the email must be dictated by:

Who you are sending it to

What message you want them to receive

How do you want them to act.

And could you avoid sending an email completely?

Of course, in truly social enterprises, you could say that emails will be redundant.  Everything will be about the conversation.  Of course; possibly.  But how many organisations have got there, yet?  

The truth is that many people, especially in large organisations, are bombarded by emails – much of which they delete.  (Except if it is from the MD, mentions bonus or is from a respected colleague…)   

So while you are working out whether it’s Yammer or Chatter or another social enterprise system – or building a social app to get to your disparate workforce, how do you make some of your internal communication better?

1.  Analyse what communication is being sent out and by whom

2.  Understand what messages are being received, absorbed and acted upon

3.  Investigate what information people really need – and they are not currently getting

4.  Build a plan to make sure the right messages are coming from the right people, via the right channels.

5.  Go out and engage your workforce in how to get their message across.  

Internal comms is often a function of technology rather than a considered strategy.  Cap Gemini is a great exception of how two consultants started a conversation on Yammer and it become the corporate platform for communication.  But many others have jumped onto a technological bandwagon, only to find that it has excerbated the problem rather than solved it.  

My experience suggests that technology can be a wonderful tool; but like any marketing, there needs to be a plan.