The anatomy of a work email

Your first work email is a job interview you didn't know you were taking. People form an opinion of you in about four seconds of reading, and they can't see your face to soften it.

The good news: a good work email follows a fixed shape. Learn the shape once and you're set for a career.

The subject line

This decides whether your email gets opened today or on Thursday.

A busy manager sees forty subject lines at once. Yours has to say what it's about and what you need, in about six words.

The greeting

• Hi Priya, — right for almost everything. Warm, professional, safe.
• Dear Ms Sharma, — for someone senior you've never met, or anything formal.
• Hello team, — for groups.
• Hey! — for colleagues you already joke with. Not for a first email.
• Respected Sir/Madam, — very common in some countries and completely fine there, but reads as dated to Western employers. If you're applying internationally, prefer Dear Hiring Manager,.

The body: BLUF

The most valuable habit in office writing:

Compare these.

❌ Buried:

Hi Priya, hope you're well. As you know we've been reviewing the vendor list since March, and after speaking with the finance team and reviewing last year's spend, and considering the delays we had in Q2, I wanted to reach out about whether we might be able to consider a change of supplier for stationery.

✅ BLUF:

Hi Priya,

Can I switch our stationery supplier to Kumar & Co? It saves $1,800 a year.

Reason: our current supplier has missed 3 of the last 5 deliveries and is 12% more expensive. Kumar & Co have quoted for the same items, quote attached.

Happy to go ahead if you approve by Friday.

Same information. The second one gets answered in thirty seconds, because Priya knows what she's deciding before she reads a single detail.

One email, one ask

If you ask three unrelated things, you'll usually get one answer and two forgotten questions. Send separate emails, or number them clearly:

I need three decisions from you:

1. Approve the $1,800 supplier switch?

2. Is Thursday 3pm OK for the review?

3. Who should sign the contract?

Numbering makes it obvious when someone has only answered one — for both of you.

The sign-off

Thanks, / Best regards, / Kind regards, — all fine. Pick one and stop thinking about it.

Then your name, role and phone number. Set this up once as an email signature and forget it.

The five rules that keep you out of trouble

1. 1Write the body before you add the recipient. You cannot accidentally send an unfinished email to your boss if the To field is empty.
2. 2Reply All is a decision, not a reflex. Ask: does every one of these fourteen people need this?
3. 3Never write an email angry. Write it, save the draft, go for a walk. Send it tomorrow or not at all. Emails are permanent and forwardable.
4. 4Attach the file first. Say "attached" and the attachment isn't there and you look careless in front of everyone.
5. 5Assume it will be forwarded. Because eventually one will be.

CC and BCC

• To — the people who must act.
• CC — "for your information, no action needed."
• BCC — hidden copies. Use it for one thing only: emailing a large list without exposing everyone's address. Using BCC to secretly loop in your manager during a disagreement is a career mistake — it always comes out.