Business executives receive a deluge of e-mails every hour of every day, and it's not because they're popular. Antiquated methods of communications such as telephone calls,
letters and (gasp) face-to-face meetings have been replaced by impersonal "pings" - and why not? After all, everyone is busy, and proper e-mail etiquette was created to maintain
some semblence of order. But spammers, Blackberry addicts and the chronic over-communicators within your own organization don't observe said etiquette, nor do they respect the
concept of a blissful, e-mail-less moment of peace.
Since no one else is going to mitigate the tsunami of e-mails sent and received daily, it's up to public relations professionals to develop and implement a strategy - if only
to cut down on the number of office memos sent daily. Katie Williams, public relations manager of Siemens Building Technologies, and her team did just that after repeatedly
hearing the number-one employee complaint: "There's too much information coming at us from all different sources." Their weapon? A weekly e-newsletter called the "Monday Morning
Update."
Here are her tips for cutting down e-mail clutter with an effective e-newsletter:
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Create one source for need-to-know company news. What is the benefit of having an e-mail blast from HR about new hires, followed by one from IT regarding an upcoming
training session, followed by one from the CEO's office congratulating employees on good earnings? By coordinating with each department, the PR/communications function can
consolidate all of this information into one source.
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Make it consistent. Williams disseminates her e-newsletter weekly, but the appropriate timing is different for every organization. However, sending one much more often
than once or twice a week defeats the purpose; sending it less than bi-weekly makes you seem incommunicado. Also, when choosing your specified time, keep employees' schedules in
mind: A Friday afternoon e-newsletter will be disregarded, while one during lunchtime might be mildly resented. At least give them time to digest.
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Make it electronic and easy to use. Williams emphasizes the importance of visual appeal, as any e-mail resembling a Master's thesis will be ignored. Use bold headlines
that make a statement, and draw attention to important information with bullet points and lists. Incorporate pictures whenever possible (but never just for the sake of it).
Finally, make sure the message line won't get snagged by the spam filter. That's right, even inter-office messages aren't safe anymore.
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Choose your format carefully. Placing the e-newsletter in the body of an e-mail imposes limitations on the format and the ability to stylize content; however, only
offering a pdf attachment prevents most Blackberry users from opening it on their hand-held device. Compromise by attaching a comprehensive, colorful version in pdf form, and
then summarize the key points in the body of the e-mail message for those who spend most of their time in transit.
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Categorize news. The e-letter's content should be broken into sections based on the department from which it originated. These sections should be consistent, and they
should appear in the same part of the e-newsletter from issue to issue. Then, each section should include live links to the company's Web site/intranet/blog whenever possible.
Finally, always include the contact information of the relevant department representative at the end of each news item.
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Encourage user-generated stories. Employees will be more engaged with the e-newsletter if it's written in the voice of their colleagues, so encourage people from various
departments to contribute news about their projects and milestones. Also, include a message from the CEO/C-suite to reinforce open communication and access to all levels of the
organization.Then, edit content to keep the tone conversational and succinct.
- Maintain guidelines. Make the publishing policy available on the company's intranet so readers know what to expect, and follow it religiously. Nothing undermines the
authority of a communications effort more than setting standards and then not meeting them.
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Archive it. Create a platform on the company's intranet for archiving each e-newsletter, and make the archives searchable. This creates opportunities for referencing past
news and linking back to the original story.
CONTACT:
Katie Williams, ?[email protected]