Don’t you wish this could be your “out of office” message?  The wording may not be professional, but it’s certainly what’s on our minds.  With summer in the US drawing to a close, many of us are squeezing in extra vacation around the long Labor Day weekend.  Be kind to yourself – and others – by putting up an out of office message that sets the right expectations.  Here’s how:

1. Be clear about the time period you’ll be gone.
   
2. State whether or not you’ll be monitoring email.
   
3. Advise who to contact for urgent issues while you’re gone.
   

No need to get cutesy about it – just state the facts and get out of there.  For example:

I’ll be out of the office the week of Sept. 1st and will not have access to email.  For any urgent issues while I’m away, please contact Shirley at Shirley@EmailLemonade.com.  Thank you!

It sounds pretty simple, but people often leave out #2 or #3 (especially when it comes to out of office messages for business travel).  As a result, your coworkers are left in limbo and don’t know how or whether to move forward without you.  You’re probably familiar with that frustration, so avoid making the same mistake.

While setting up a clear out of office message is easy and essential, if you really want to make a graceful exit for a few days, there’s some extra prep required.  Be sure to:

• Give close coworkers a heads up.  Especially if you’re going to be out for 3 or more days, it’s nice to give advance notice to people who work closely with you.  That way, they aren't caught off guard when they receive your out of office message and will have already made contingency plans.

• Tie up loose ends.  If you have a project due while you’re gone, but you can’t wrap it up in time, either find a way for someone else to temporarily take over or notify the relevant parties that you won’t hit the deadline.  The key is to communicate the situation before you leave.  Otherwise, people are going to get a nasty surprise while you’re gone, which hurts your credibility and zaps the goodwill you've established.

If you've covered off these steps, you’re ready to get out there and enjoy your vacation.  (Just remember – if your out of office message says you won’t be accessing or responding to email, don’t do it!)  Have a good one!

Q: How do you eat an elephant?
A:  One bite at a time.

When facing a big project, many of us learned this little lesson from a more experienced colleague.  It’s a lesson that comes to mind when I ponder the state of email frustration in the workplace.  How do we bring about big enough change?  What will it take for the masses to become more thoughtful, effective communicators?  It’s an elephant of a problem.  But here’s the key: each one of us is a bite.  We can all contribute toward a more positive email dynamic in the workplace – both through our own emails and through being a good influence on others.  (And for those of you with direct reports, you have an amazing opportunity to cause even greater change.)

There are lots of tips and tricks for writing good emails, but I believe that real change starts with adopting the right mindset.  Here’s your new mantra:

1.    We are all ambassadors.  When you send an email, you are representing yourself, your team, and your company.  Just like you wouldn’t show up to a state dinner in sweatpants, it’s critical to make sure your emails are “dressed” properly for each occasion. Being an ambassador is a serious responsibility, and you have to take pride in what you are putting into the world.

2.    Each email is a miniature goodwill mission.  Every email should work to build positive momentum and strengthen your relationship with the readers.  Whether you are responding to a request or moving your own agenda forward, you should handle it in a way that makes your readers feel good and lets them maintain their dignity.

When you adopt this mindset, if shifts your perspective.  Suddenly, you’ll start thinking about your email from the readers’ viewpoint.  You’ll make sure the tone is positive.  You’ll make sure the message is clear and easy to read.  You’ll make sure that your remarks are adding value instead of just another email to their inbox.  It becomes less about “you” and more about “we.”

We’ve accepted email drudgery as the norm, but it doesn’t have to be that way.  Imagine if every email you received were helpful. One more time – imagine if every email you received were helpful.

Let it sink in…

Think how much more positive the work environment would be.  Think about how much more you could accomplish – either personally or professionally.

Don’t settle for less!  Be an ambassador.  Set an example.  It’s starts with you.  And me.  Together, we just might change the world.

Subject lines get a lot of attention, but there’s another subject issue lurking out there…ready to creep into your email draft or your inbox.  Sometimes it’s sneaky.  Usually it’s innocent.  Frequently it’s frustrating.  The issue?  Managing the subjects of email trails.

The two ways we go awry are “The Mid-Trail Change” and the “The Two-Trail Subject.”  Fortunately, you can avoid them and even correct course if one has already happened to you.  Here’s how:

“The Mid-Trail Change”

How to steer clear: Don’t change subjects within an email trail.  You always want your content to stay true to the original subject line.  If an unrelated question comes up, resist the urge to include it in the email – even if that email is addressed to the people you want to ask.

Mid-trail subject changes are frustrating because:

1.    It’s a pain to hunt down the email later when you or the reader needs to reference it.

2.    When the message hits your inbox (and those of your readers), it’s hard to quickly recognize the true subject of the email.  Inbox management just got less efficient and your new topic may get glossed over.

If a mid-trail change lands in your inbox and it seems like the conversation will continue, just change the subject of the email when you reply.  Be sure to call it out in a friendly way, though.  For example, "By the way, I've changed the subject of this email trail to help us stay organized."

“The Two-Trail Subject”

How to steer clear: Don’t start a new email trail if you’re following up to a previous email.  Otherwise, you’ll have two email trails on the same topic.  If this doesn’t seem like a big deal, then consider:

1.    Your readers won’t be able to instantly reference the important information from your previous note.  They are either going to miss it (and it will take longer to get what you need), or they are going to be annoyed because now they have to find your other note.

2.    When you need to go back and reference the emails on that topic, it will take you longer because part of the conversation will be on one trail and part will be on another.

If you’re on the receiving end of the two-trail subject, you can try to do damage control by only responding to the original note.  If any new information was introduced in the second note, be sure to take it into account, though.

In the famous words of Dale Evans Rogers, “Happy trails to you, ‘til we meet again.”  May all your email trails be happy this week!

I recently caught up with two avid readers of The Fresh Squeeze blog.  While chatting about some recent posts (The Brain Dump being especially popular), they mentioned being more conscious – and stressed – about trying to send “perfect” emails.

I often have similar anxiety.  After all, if I teach email skills for a living, don’t all of my emails have to be “perfect?”

Thankfully, the answer is “no.”

What I told these readers (and remind myself) is that email perfection isn’t the ultimate goal.  Perfection is a tyrannical standard, and seeking it with our daily emails can even be counterproductive.  Although I’m a huge advocate of being thoughtful with our email habits, if we spend too much time agonizing over every message, we’ll never get anything done.

Instead, our goal is to establish a pattern of excellence.  It’s a balance of aiming for perfection but not beating ourselves up when mistakes happen.  When we establish a pattern of excellence:

1.    Most of our emails will be really good.  We’ll have a spot-on subject line, include the right people, write a solid message, and choose the appropriate level of responsiveness.

2.    We’ll nail it when the stakes are high.  Yeah, in these cases, it’s ok to agonize over the email.  Whether it’s establishing a new relationship or an important update to the boss, we do want the email to be perfect.  We’ll carefully craft every sentence and use the most stringent level of proofreading. 

3.    At some point we'll send an "email lemon," but our readers will cut us some slack.  Instead of silently cursing us, they’ll just assume we’re having a rough week.  Plus, because we’ve cultivated such good email habits, our lemons are more likely to be smaller issues like delayed responses or typos – not ugly, relationship-damaging mistakes.

So go ahead – shake off some of that stress.

Just don't forget that our emails are so much more than mundane office tasks.  They directly impact our effectiveness, our personal brands, and our relationships.  While absolute perfection isn't the goal, we also shouldn’t settle for anything less than a pattern of excellence.  Every email is a chance to be better, so start your pattern today!