I’ve set a personal record: I’ve worked in an office environment for half a year now (6 months exactly next week). So here’s a few things I’ve tried to do recently.
If I’m sending an e-mail that absolutely HAS to be perfect before it goes out, I leave the address out of the “To” field. You can probably stick it at the top of the “Body” section while you edit the message. Then you have to consciously make an effort to send them, which naturally lends itself to “one more read through.” Even then, with my carelessness, I’m still bound to make mistakes. Which is why I need to take these extra precautions not to accidently send them when I mean to “save as draft.”
I don’t think I’ve talked on the phone as much as I have these past 6 months. When leaving messages or voicemails, I’ll try to provide my number or other contact information at the beginning of the message, rather than at the end. That way, if the person wasn’t able to get all the information on the first pass, they don’t have to listen to the entire message to get it down. It’s quite awkward to start the message with your name and number, but trust me, so many times I’ve wished people did the same for me.
One Comment
Hey I leave out e-mails out of the to field too if I need to read through it again and save it.
That would be good if people left there name and number at the start of a voicemail, definitely agree!