Ray  Roberston  

The  PASS  Process  

The four questions the PASS process asks are:

P for Purpose – What is the purpose of your email? A for Action – What action needs to result from your email? Does it have a due date? S for Support – What supporting documentation needs to be attached to your communication? S for Summary – Have you successfully summarized your email message in the subject line?

Ray  Roberston  

Ray  Roberston  

P – What is the purpose of your email?

Ray  Roberston  

Does your email correlate with a meaningful objective or task? If it does not, you may need to ask yourself whether the email needs sending at all.

Ray  Roberston  

If it does then

Try to summarise you’re message in the first paragraph. If you do this the reader is able to read the rest of the message in the right context.

Ray  Roberston  

Ray  Roberston  

A – What action is required as a result of your email?

The 3 most common email actions:

Task: The recipient has to complete an actual physical task (for example, order report copies or call Jack Doe). Respond: The recipient needs only to respond to the email with the information that you requested. )You did clearly state the information that you needed, right?) Read: The recipient needs only to read the email for their benefit.

Ray  Roberston  

Ray  Roberston  

Eliminate any confusion about your expectations by clearly stating the action you need the receiver to take. Make sure you include any necessary due times / dates for the actions you requested..

Ray  Roberston  

S – is any supporting

documentation required?

Make sure you have identified and attached any supporting documentation required. You cannot expect somebody to read the monthly sales report if you have not attached the monthly sales report to the email message.

Ray  Roberston  

Ray  Roberston  

If you are sending an attachment, remember lots of people get their emails on the go on a smart phone so help them by including the content of the attachment or a summary of it, in the body of the email as well where appropriate.

Ray  Roberston  

S  –  Summary  in  the  subject  line?  

Ray  Roberston  

Use the "Subject" line to give a clear indication of what the email is about. Receivers can then make a quick decision about whether to open the email now, and both the sender and the recipient can find the email later.

Ray  Roberston  

Very common to get emails from people which come as a reply to something you sent them last week or last month. Although they are introducing a new subject, they've simply clicked on the last email and haven't changed the subject line. The result is that the subject line doesn't reflect the content and this confuses everyone.

Ray  Roberston  

Send?

Only send your mail after you have checked PASS. If you do: •  There will be much less sending messages

back and forth since you’ve ensured your message is clear.

•  Your expectations will more likely be accomplished.

•  You will be sure the recipient has everything necessary to get the job done.

•  And you can be confident that the true meaning of your message will be received within its subject line.

Ray  Roberston  

Consider including an automatic signature for your email messages that states what time of day you will be reading your messages

Ray  Roberston  

And  that  (if  appropriate)  provides  some  alterna7ve  contact  info    

Before  you  finally  hit  

Ray  Roberston  

Re-read message for spelling and grammar errors.

Re-read what the message says and how is said. Think about any possibilities of misinterpretation.

Ray  Roberston  

Never  Ray  Roberston  

Blurt a message impulsively.

Say something electronically which you would not say face-to- face.

Use e mail to vent your emotions

Ray  Roberston  

Ray  Roberston  

Some situations / communications do require face to face or telephone conversations and e mail is not an effective substitute.

And  Always  Remember  

Ray  Roberston  

E  Mail  e7que?e  

Ray  Roberston  

Be  careful  what  you  write        

Email  is  neither  private  nor  secure.  Do  not  use  email  to  discuss  confiden7al  or  sensi7ve  informa7on.  An  email  is  a  permanent  record  and  can  be  easily  forwarded  to  others  or  intercepted.  Double  check  all  addresses  and  content  before  you  send.  

Ray  Roberston  

Don't  send  your  email  to  people  who  don't  need  to  know  about  it      

Think  carefully  before  clicking  "Reply  to  all"  -­‐  did  you  really  mean  to  reply  to  everyone,  or  just  the  sender?  

Replyallgate  

Ray  Roberston  

Don't  mark  emails  high  priority  or  urgent,          

Similarly  don't  use  the  words  URGENT  or  IMPORTANT  in  the  subject  line  of  an  email.  If  your  message  really  is  urgent  or  important  email  is  not  the  correct  communica7on  method  to  be  using  in  the  first  place;  the  telephone  is  probably  be?er.  

Ray  Roberston  

This  will  almost  always  annoy  your  recipient  before  they  have  even  read  your  message.    

Don't  request  a  read-­‐receipt