The notification sound goes off. Another email. When you click it open, your blood pressure rises immediately. It’s just a giant blurb of text you don’t really know what you’re looking at when you first see it, you notice seventeen different requests buried somewhere in the middle and no clue what on earth they want you to do really. Sound familiar?
After conducting training programs in Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth for eighteen years now, I can tell you email communication is single handedly ruining more business relationships than office politics or bad coffee. Most people think they are cleverest at that funny thing.
Email communication has become an important part of business today. They influence internal and external communication. Due to its capacity to help with quick, documented exchanges, it is a pillar of business processes. In business settings, email is not only a vehicle for transaction, but it can also be called upon in strategising information. It is also good for decision making. The format of an email is organised in a way that maintains clarity and consistency. This plays an important role in sustaining professional relations and furthering business objectives.
Why Email is Important in 2025 and beyond
In modern business, email continues to be one of the most important forms of communication, with billions being exchanged daily, allowing for communication over long distances. Email is the Primary Communication Tool.
Email has become an essential communication tool in business because it is efficient and inexpensive. Even with the growth of other tech or communication types, emails are systematic and have a formal style making them easy to use for businesses and tackling complex issues. They are quick and get a response without really disturbing someone with a phone call. Nonetheless, challenges such as email overload can still crop up, requiring companies to take actions to manage.
Email Makes Your Life Easy
The widespread use of emails in industries and departments can be attributed to their versatility and scalability. Businesses of all sizes use email for connectivity, between a range of platforms and systems. Due to its universal reach, it is suitable for both departmental and client communications. Sometimes mixing the two.
Email is faster and more efficient than any other form of business communication. This helps the business to deal with internal and external communication on time, which would take time with normal post. Email has become a major contributor to running a business effectively and improving productivity. Although being under the inbox thumb will also make you less productive if you don’t handle your time well.
Cost Effectiveness Compared to Traditional Methods
Email is the most cost effective communication tool that has lower operational costs than traditional ones like post and fax. A Jackson, Dawson and Wilson (1999) study found that email enables immediate communication without delivery costs such as the old school stamps and paper. We may only spend one third of our time on the actual’s tasks but…..one of the best things about e mail is that someone can e mail you and you get it done in a timely manner. This not only saves costs but also improves the flexibility of communication speed. This has become an essential part of the business process.
Record Keeping and Documentation Capabilities
Email is used for record keeping in business as it has an auditable trail. All emails are time stamped which contains heaps of information. Thus, it establishes accountability and can help resolve disputes by creating a trusted record of choices and agreements.
Training is Needed for Better Email Communication
With the constant flow of messages, learning how to manage email creates effective email overload management. According to Soucek and Moser (2010), a training intervention can be helpful for more effective use of e mail. To enhance the efficiency of the workflow, cluttering of information can be minimised and the quality of communication enhanced in the email. Setting out the email with bullet points or better formatting will help. Introducing email training from companies like Paramount Training & Development and business solutions like these can reduce stress and boost morale, so employees are better able to deal with information and email overloads and their associated side effects. So managing the inbox is very important for employees to perform better at workplace. This would also help them concentrate better. Further it also cuts down the chances of burnout and other amenities.
Best Practices for Effective Email Communication
It is important to implement email best practices for business communication to facilitate better interpersonal efficacy, professionalism, etc. Clear subject lines, concise messages, and proper etiquette improve communication outcomes and workplace culture positively. Furthermore, following these practices will reduce misunderstanding and increase clarity in business interactions.
When it comes to doing business, it’s important to manage the volume of your e mails and reduce stress and maximise productivity. Strategies such as prioritising emails, using boomerang for Gmail etc. can improve response times and ensure your clients get a timely reply.
The Statistics Say It All
Let me be brutally honest with you. If a routine business email is over 150 words, half your readers will stop paying attention. I learned this very early in my consulting career when a big client told me directly that my “comprehensive updates” went into the trash. Ouch.
What really enrages me is the lack of email etiquette training for employees across most Australian organisations. We spend thousands on technical skills yet totally forget about the most used communication tool. Like teaching someone to drive without teaching road rules.
The numbers are startling – the average office worker spends 2.6 hours a day sorting through emails. That’s a third of their working day! Yet somehow, we are all still terrible at it.
What Makes Email Communication Actually Work
The first principle is that your subject line is everything. Do not use “meeting” or “quick question” – these kill conversation.
I also strongly feel that a maximum of three sentences should be used for all business emails. First sentence: what you need. Benefits of the devices: Why you need it. When do you need it by? Everything else is fluff that dilutes your message.
Many people in the Australian business sector wrongly believe that a BCC function is not necessary on emails. Being “transparent” is cute and all but not everyone has to see everything we say. Make use of BCC to keep everybody informed without reply all chaos cluttering their inbox.
The Australian Email Personality Problem
As an Australian I can explain that we have a unique challenge with email tone. We are free spirited and nice people but put us behind a computer and we turn robotic.
I’ve been seeing this quite a bit with teams in Sydney, the creeping corporate formality that renders everything sounding like a piece of legal documentation. Relax you can be professional without being a bureaucrat.
On the other hand, Perth businesses sometimes go too casual. When “that thing” could be any of seventeen different projects, saying “Hey mate, can you sort that thing we talked about?” isn’t helpful.
The sweet spot? As if you’re discussing something with a friend in Costa. Professional but human. Clear but not cold.
How To Respond to an Email Properrly
It is killing productivity to expect immediate responses to emails, another controversial view. I advise all my clients to check emails in batches rather than constantly, ideally in the morning, after lunch, and end of day. It is not the end of the world if you haven’t responded in thirty minutes.
But when you do respond, make it count. The email has the same weight as a shrug. “I will consider this” or “I will get back to you” without a deadline. Provide people with something tangible: “I will have an answer by Thursday morning” or “Let me check with Sarah and follow up before close of business.”.
A property developer who was based in Brisbane set expectations of response time. This ensured changes in client relationships. All our first emails contained this: “We always try to respond to all requests within 24 hours on business days.” Straightforward, simple, manageable.
The Mobile Email Disaster
Quick tangent, we need to talk about how people manage email on mobile. I watch people trying to construct complicated business emails on their smartphone as they stroll down Queen Street. Stop it. Just stop.
Mobile emails should be nothing more than acknowledgments. “Got your email, will get back to you properly from my desktop this afternoon.” That is all. Nothing important should be written on a phone screen.
Except for truly urgent issues where a rapid “Yes, approve” or “No, shut that down” actually sorts it out. But for the love of whatever you hold holy please stop using the predictive text on your tram to try and detail your project requirements.
Email Templates: Your Secret Weapon
Details that made my consulting practice digitally competent (email templates for common situations). Not those horrible corporate form letters. Personalised templates of your choice that allow your voice to shine while ensuring consistency.
The CC Field Minefield.
Let’s discuss CC politics so we can learn where good intentions really suffer! I follow a simple rule: anyone whose name in CC must know why they are there. Either include a line like “Bcc’d John so he is aware of any changes to timelines” or don’t CC them.
What you don’t want to do is CC someone as a power play. You understand what I mean CC’ing a person’s boss to exert influence. While it may work for now, you are burning your bridges.
The Reply All Epidemic.
This one makes my eye twitch. Only hit ‘reply all’ if your comment adds value to the entire list of the email. Replying “Thanks!” to thirty people is not helpful, it is digital pollution.
I collaborated with a financial services firm in Melbourne where the reply all emails were becoming so overwhelming that staff members were missing important updates in the noise. We established a straightforward rule: if your response does not add extra information or action items for the other recipients, do not reply all.
At first, some were hesitant as they thought they would look rude. But here’s the thing – nobody thinks you’re rude because you don’t thank forty people at once. They think you’re considerate of their time.
Email Signatures: Professional or Pretentious?
Keep your email signature functional, not a manifesto about your life philosophy. Name, title, direct phone number, company name. Maybe your LinkedIn if it’s relevant to your role.
Amongst other things, you do not want the following: inspirational quotes, phone numbers, social media links for platforms you never use and certainly not those horrible legal disclaimers that take up half the screen!
I have seen more words in the email signature than email. It’s like having a card that unfolds to a brochure a lot of effort but not much judgment.
People also use a lot of those emoticons. Some business allow them and some don’t, so check your email policy at work before you give your boss the wrong impression.
The Follow Up Strategy.
Here’s where most people completely drop the ball. A crucial email is sent by you… nothing. Radio silence. What do you do?
If you don’t hear back within a week, follow up again. Here is an example: Hi [Name]. Following up on my email of [date] regarding [the subject]. I still need [the thing] by [date]. Can you confirm?
Second follow up: escalate urgency or method. If appropriate, cc the supervisor in a phone call, face to face conversation email.
As this has become a pattern rather than an oversight, it is time for the third follow up: let’s discuss communication expectations.
But the catch is that each follow up should either add new information or change the timeline. Use Altered Subject Lines for follow up Emails Not “Follow up,” “Second Request,” or “Urgent” — in your email subject line. The above measure is like asking not to speak in a language not your own.
Email Security: Not Just for IT Any More
Quick reality check – any email you send may be permanent evidence. Casual email exchanges have been transformed into legal documents in workplace disputes, I have seen that. Not trying to scare you but think before you type. It is very important that you don’t type anything that you don’t want seen in a court. Never put anything in an email that you wouldn’t want to read aloud at a meeting with your colleagues. For personal feedback or anything of a sensitive nature, discuss in person or on the phone.
And to be more careful, review your list more than once before sending. You must have heard stories that the email goes to the wrong person or the whole company database gets something meant for one person.
Making Email Work Better for Everyone.
Essentially, email is a tool—something to use, not a relationship replacement. It is great for sharing info, confirming decisions and keeping records. It hinders difficult discussions, emotional talks, and forming true relationships.
Use it strategically. A phone call worth two minutes saves fifteen emails. Just a visit to the desk can clear confusion that may take hours to sort out in writing.
Above all, remember that there is a person on the receiving end of every email you send. Write accordingly.