The August 2007 edition of Wired magazine arrived in my mailbox today. As I was flipping through the pages, I spotted a headline that I thought said "How to Layer Proof Your Email". I thought what an important topic - seriously. How many of us are caught in a cycle of "RE's" that never ends? If you use Gmail, then it can be even worse. You don't have to worry, Google does it for you.
When I settled in to read this very short bit, it turns out the title is "How to Lawyer Proof Your Email" which is a completely different thing (pg 108). Granted, it may even be more important but it was not what I was looking for. It's good advice: The less you do in writing, the less they can pin on you later.
Nevertheless, what about the problem of email layering? By email layering, I mean those emails that have an answer to an answer to an answer. Sometimes the response is above and sometimes it is below. Each participant is adding a sig after each part and the thing gets longer and longer. While this can help keep the thread of the conversation going between two people, it becomes a mess when three people are involved.
Some rules:
1) Only use RE when you are actually responding to the subject line item for that email
It helps you later when you are trying to find an email by topic
2) For new topics - start a new email with a new subject
This lets the recipient know that you have changed subject and reduces that cluttered feeling.
3) Respond only to the original sender if you receive an email addressed to multiple people
This is useful unless you are terminating the discussion or confirming an appointment.
4) NEVER use reply all when you were included as a BCC
Chances are no one was supposed to know you were in on the conversation
5) Learn to use a chat program like ICQ, IM, GoogleChat,...(Here's a whole list of 'em)
These are great for the quick back and forth and they allow multiple people to chime in
There is a sports columnist for the Orange County Register, Randy Youngman, who likes to use the phrase "Spraying to all fields" when he is going to address multiple subjects. I think some people use email the same way. They send missives to anyone who they can think of. Please resist that temptation.
Going back to the original intent of this post - email is a not that different from regular mail. Imagine if you made a copy of every letter you respond to and you use that copy to write on and sent it back to the person? How would that be received? In some cases it is helpful, but now days most people have a copy of what they sent. Be original and be a positive force for change. Use chat for chat and email for email. The layered look is best reserved for clothing, furniture, and lasagna.
