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March 15, 2013
What We've Been Reading: So Many Email Pet Peeves
9. Unnecessary Emails
Unnecessary emails come in all shapes, sizes, colors and flavors - and they can often cross over with other email pet peeves listed below - but the one thing that they all have in common is that what they communicate either did not need to be communicated or at least did not need to be communicated with the immediacy of an email.
How To Avoid It - If it's not something that your recipients absolutely need to have and have right away; or something that you can just mention in passing or at an upcoming meeting, then skip the email.
Dot Complicated: Your Email Pet Peeves and E-mail Etiquette Tips From Ed Zuckerberg
Bad (Or No) Subject Lines
The absolute worst is getting an email with no subject line. Uh, really? You are that lazy? - Susan
Too ShortShorthand abbreviations when they are not needed. It's not Twitter, you have more than 140 characters. Make them count! - Neha @Nehalia
One word responses. Oh the humanity. - Randall @RandallAllDay
Slate: You Say "Best." I Say No.It's time to kill the email signoff -- Matthew Malady brings about a good point: that signoffs have been grandfathered into the email era. They have, but are they still necessary? The Dot Complicated post also mentions the dislike of closing an email with "Best," so there's definitely some animosity out there. Definitely an interesting read.
After 10 or 15 more "Regards" of varying magnitudes, I could take no more. I finally realized the ridiculousness of spending even one second thinking about the totally unnecessary words that we tack on to the end of emails. And I came to the following conclusion: It's time to eliminate email signoffs completely. Henceforth, I do not want--nay, I will not accept--any manner of regards. Nor will I offer any. And I urge you to do the same.
Think about it. Email signoffs are holdovers from a bygone era when letter writing--the kind that required ink and paper--was a major means of communication. The handwritten letters people sent included information of great import and sometimes functioned as the only communication with family members and other loved ones for months.
