Writing professional emails: challenges and solutions

Have you ever written an email, but got no response to it? Yes, this happens more than you can imagine. Sometimes it is not your fault: the person you wrote to was perhaps busy, so they didn’t have time to check their inbox, but how often does that happen- 10, 15, or maybe 50 times?

Not getting replies to emails or other messages can be frustrating, but are you sure you did everything right? Every time you send an email it projects an impression of who you are, which your email recipient may use to judge you. Your email might be taken seriously, or it may be seen as unprofessional, or even as a scam. Before sending off an email, try asking yourself these questions: Is my subject line clear? Have I greeted my recipient properly? Does my email sound ‘right’, whether it is a formal or informal one?

As a beginner

When I started using email to send assignments to my lecturers at university, I thought they only needed the document. I did not use the subject line, and did not add any kind of message. It never crossed my mind to first greet the lecturers. What for? Perhaps this will seem familiar to some of you?

For many people these days, writing emails is not the most common or popular communication tool. We can also use WhatsApp, Messenger, Facebook and many more applications to communicate with our friends, family and loved ones. However, when you join the professional world of work, the way you communicate needs to change. The shift from social media platforms to using emails professionally is sometimes tricky. The good news is that Three Mountains learning advisors now has a solution to that problem for you.

The solution

The solution is to do our blended course  Write professional emails.  This course covers all the basics of professional email writing, which are covered in three parts. First, there is a self-paced e-course that you can do – for free. Doing this part alone will already make a difference to how you plan, design and write your emails. Next, the e-course offers a number of group training sessions, either online or face-to-face, with interesting exercises to help you practice your email writing skills. And finally, you can join a WhatsApp group for learners. You will be supported in this WA group for 6-8 weeks, to learn how to make professional email writing an automatic work habit.

By signing up for the full training package, including the group training sessions and group coaching through WhatsApp, you are guaranteed to improve your email writing skills.  

A great training

I delivered two sessions of group training to 12 participants on 21 and 24 of March.  The group practised writing effective emails, and gave each other feedback. And – guess what? -the participants loved it!

One of the participants said, “I never understood the concept of an ‘automated email’, Why would my recipients respond by saying they are not in the office instead of replying to my email?” Maybe you have faced that challenge as well?

The best part of our training model is that it is really interactive, with both the participants and trainers sharing experiences and learning from each other.

A second participant said, “I appreciate the Three Mountain Academy’s work. In this training, I have acquired important new skills, especially how to keep the attachment in the thread when replying to an email. I also learned to think more about the proper tone to use in a professional email.”

The Write professional emails course is up and ready to use on our website. You are welcome to have a look and to do the self-paced component. You are also, of course, very welcome to register with us at Three Mountains to do the full training programme.

Don’t forget to spread the word about this with your colleagues and loved ones – write them an email and tell them all about this course!

 

 

Nadine Nirere