In-House Counsel

More improvements to e-mail practices

By Rees Morrison

From Hottopic, a publication of ARMA International at 7, come several shrewd pieces of advice about what to do before you hit the ?Send? button for an e-mail. (1) Check the recipients of the e-mail to be sure they are the ones you want to write to. (2) Use a meaningful subject line. (3) Match the subject line to what is actually being discussed, which means you should change the subject line when the topic has veered. (4) When you respond to several points in a long message, excerpt just the points being responded to. (5) Keep your signature line simple and without adornment.

The article also suggests that when you send email, limit how often you attach files. Instead, link to the document. They also suggest that you go on a ?bacn? diet. Bacn (pronounced bacon) "refers to e-mail that the recipient has subscribed to or agreed to receive, so it is not as bad as spam, but it is e-mail that may not be read quickly, if ever." We all get on email lists, but we all should prune our bacn.

Full post as published by Law Department Management on February 25, 2008 (boomark / email).