I'm a devout list maker. I have shopping lists, to-do lists, vacation packing lists, work project lists, and lists of my lists (not yet!). I've always been a little apologetic about relying so heavily on lists. That is, until I heard Atul Gawande, a surgeon, making the rounds of talks shows (including The Daily Show) to promote his book The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right.
Gawande's premise is that life has gotten so complicated that people are overwhelmed with information. The result is that we make preventable mistakes. Years ago, Boeing found that a simple pre-flight checklists for pilots dramatically reduced crashes. Gawande applied the checklist concept to medicine. A simple pre-surgery checklist that included such seemingly obvious questions as Do you have blood on hand? cut death rates by over one-third in the first eight hospitals that used it.
While workplace writing isn't normally a life-or-death occupation, I've found that checklists have saved me from embarrassment and helped me do my job better. So I'm offering up two of my favorite e-mail writing checklists:
Does your e-mail pass the "blush test?" Use the Before-You-Send Checklist to keep yourself from sending embarrassing e-mail. (If only Governor Mark Sanford had used the checklist!)
Would you like to make sure all of your customer service e-mails are great? Use this checklist when answering your customers' e-mails.
Do you have a "life saving" writing checklist? E-mail it to me and I'll share it with our readers.
--Marilynne Rudick
Many thanks to Douglas Baumwall for contributing this comprehensive e-mail checklist:
32 most important email etiquette tips
http://www.emailreplies.com/
Posted by: Marilynne Rudick | March 16, 2010 at 01:21 PM