By Commander Lesley Lykins. Every now and then, professionals we trust send in guest posts because it’s their professional responsibility to make the joint Public Affairs community better. Pay close attention, this post expands on a topic we’ve hit before, but can’t stress enough.
I hate email even more than I hate laundry, and I have a lot of little kids so I really hate laundry. Unfortunately, email is a necessity in today’s world so all we can do is strive to make it a little less painful.
Here’s the thing, almost everyone we work with we touch through email at some point in time. So, typically you’ll go quickly to your email to find contact information similar to (those old school enough to remember) – a phone book.
In an effort to cut down on the email I force on others, and to ensure information is clearly and concisely communicated – I like to opt for phone calls. Today, I needed to track down a new point of contact at the State Department. She had e-introduced herself to me so I quickly pulled up her email hoping for the signature block. No joy.
It was my passionately annoyed outburst that got me invited to share my thoughts on signature blocks with all of you. Here are my thoughts:
An email signature block is critical, and if you don’t have one you might as well be hiding
So to break it down…
- Add a signature block for both New Messages AND Replies/Forwards. It always confuses me why people build a signature block for new messages and then don’t apply it to replies and forwards.
- Include the important information: Name, Title, Organization, Phone Numbers, and Social Media/Web links. There is an ongoing debate about whether or not to include your email address. I’m a fan of including. Many times emails are forwarded on and you no longer have the originator’s email address – unless it is in the signature block.
- Don’t go crazy. Photos and quotes aren’t necessary. While a photo of the sender can be helpful, with our plain text military emails – it’s pretty unrealistic.
As professional communicators, let’s be easy to find.
Photo by Lance Cpl. A. J. Van Fredenberg
