Avoid the ‘pompous’ email trap as communications experts share their top tips
Former BBC HR director Lucy Adams made headlines recently when she described her email communications to staff as “pompous” and “sterile”. That wasn’t her intention, she said – her messages went through a drawn-out editing process, often being co-authored by other departments. While we’ll never know if Adams’s original emails were Booker Prize material or not, The Times reports that what was finally sent out was described by one employee as “crap”.
How do you avoid communication by committee?
Write clearly and avoid being over-formal
“Use clear, jargon-free language and spell out any acronyms,” says Rachel Miller, founder of All Things IC communications consultancy. “Write in an engaging way. Show your personality by choosing your words carefully.”
Allan Boroughs, partner at Orion Partners, agrees. “People sometimes have this artificial formality come over them when they write,” he says. “Learn to converse by email in a way you would naturally so that you sound like yourself. And, if you are writing about something you feel strongly about, let people see that.” It’s easy to lapse into management speak as much to sound intelligent as to avoid being legally ambiguous, but simply dropping in the occasional contraction (‘don’t’ s instead of ‘do not’) and adding a less formal introduction to your email can help loosen it up a bit.
Be careful with humour
“People can’t see you smiling when you make a witty observation in an email,” reminds Steve Doswell, chief executive of the Institute of Internal Communication. “What you intended to say might be misconstrued. I’m not saying people shouldn’t make ironic observations, but they really should flag them up.”
Send only what you need to
“If you’re communicating a fast-moving situation, such as an office closure, daily or even hourly communication might be needed,” says Boroughs. “But there’s nothing worse than getting regular emails when nothing is happening.” As long as there isn’t a communications vacuum, there’s no need to keep updating.
And don’t abuse those whole-organisation mailing lists. “Be clear who the intended recipients are,” says Miller. “Don’t mass email if you don’t need to.”
Be smart with subject lines
“Basically, a subject line is a headline,” says Doswell. “It needs to address the issues at hand. There’s no point having a long, wordy and irrelevant subject line.” Instead, be clear and unambiguous about what the audience is getting: ‘Changes to the senior management team’ will be read by everyone, while ‘Some important news about the business’ might not even make it past the spam filters.
Doswell says that it can sometimes help to include a short call for action, such as ‘please respond’, in your subject line. “If you draw people’s attention to the fact that this email requires them to do something, you’re more likely to trigger a response,” he says.
Don’t be too HR-y
If your sent-emails folder reveals nothing but lectures about company policy, you’re guilty of this one. “HR really adds value when it has a business focus,” says Boroughs. “If you’ve got the opportunity to write an email to the whole organisation, it’s a great chance to not only reiterate some key commercial messages but also to demonstrate that HR are not just organisational policemen.”
It’s not cynical to want to be the bearer of glad tidings: not only is it good for you to be associated with positivity, too often promotions, contract wins or positive financials aren’t celebrated. And don’t forget the small stuff – simply thanking people for their efforts has been shown to drive engagement.
Be honest about bad news
HR department emails aren’t all Christmas party invitations and promotion announcements – unfortunately, you’ll sometimes have to break some bad news. If you’re in this unenviable situation, Boroughs’ advice is not to sugar coat it. “Get straight to the point, be absolutely honest and give people as much information as you can,” he says. Don’t leave them hanging, either: if there’s someone to talk to or a site to visit for further information, tell them.
If you can avoid it, don’t let others rewrite your emails
Adams said meddling from other departments proved the downfall of her communication style. But if you’re dealing with a sensitive topic, you might need to run it past a legal mind before you hit send. Boroughs advises against having the lawyers rewrite your email for you. “Say, ‘tell me if there’s something in here I can’t say and I’ll change it,’ not ‘rewrite this for me,’” he says.
Doswell agrees: “You need to have the courage to think about the audience and fight that battle with legal. You have to accept that there may be a need for legal oversight but you need to be able to argue the case that clarity and brevity are equally important.”