What's the deal with email?

Eight simple rules for workplace emails.

1. Never email angry. Respond, don’t react. 

2. Save your dunks for the basketball court. “Sarcasm never translates.”

3. Avoid emailing important stuff on your phone. “Sent from my iphone” means “Your communication is not valuable to me.”  

4. Set aside dedicated blocks of time to attend to email. 

5. When email is not the medium for the message.

6. Resist the urge to “kitchen sink” it. One topic or question per email, please.

7. Emojis in professional workplace communication. Smiley face or frowny face?

8. Take time to avoid email for work/life balance. 

Further Reading: 

• Lindsay Ellis, “Higher Ed’s ‘Productivity Poison’” (Chronicle of Higher Education, Dec. 20, 2021)

• Cal Newport, “Is Email Making Professors Stupid?” (Chronicle of Higher Education, Feb. 12, 2019)