I have put together a list of tips thatI have received from my friends in the past. I have picked the onesthat have served me well. Here is the list.

1. Don’t fill the recipient email addresses before you complete your email

Youmight have seen this happen. A broken email arrives quickly followed byanother email asking you to ignore the earlier email as the “send”button was pressed accidentally. It’s a waste of time for both people.Stuff happens - so the best way to prevent it is not to fill in therecipient details until you complete the email message.

2. Always include contact numbers in your emails

Yes,we expect that people will be organized and they will store our phonenumbers in the address book and when they want to call us - voila! it’sall there in the address book. Unfortunately, I have seen so many busypeople using email also as an address book. We can’t change everyonebut at least we can be sure that they will find us when they need us byputting in our contact details in our emails.

3. Set your name display to “Firstname Lastname” in your email settings

Thereare so many variations out there “Lastname, Firstname”, “name@server”etc. The best is to set your name to be displayed in the “FirstnameLastname” format. This is because if someone is searching for youremail by name, everyone may not know your lastname or your emailaddress which may be a combination of first initial of first name andthe last name or something of that sort.

4. No surprises by email (golden rule)

Youare running late on a critical project or you won’t make it to ameeting that is scheduled later today - best is to not use an email tosurprise people. Surprises are good as long as they are positive. If itis negative, try your best not to send it by email.

5. Always leave your call back number (slowly) when you leave a voicemail

Again,our assumption is that people will know our phone number or it getsregistered in the cell phone caller id system. My point: Why take achance? It will hardly take a few more seconds to slowly and clearlyleave your call back number. I emphasize slowly as not everyone mayunderstand your accent and if you speak fast, it will make mattersworse.


6. Always take reverse directions from your meeting place

Yes,I know that many of us have the GPS devices in our cars. We can dependon them 100% and be surprised sometimes but I would rather be prepared.While you are printing directions from your location to the meetingplace, you can click once more to print the reverse directions (fromthe meeting place back to your location)

This has helped me multiple times, especially when I am in a new city and I am meeting someone downtown.

Whileyou are at it, also think of getting an alternate route at hand if thetiming is critical. Sometimes a road is closed or under constructionand

7. Keep all the contact numbers handy when you are driving

Especiallycontact numbers of the hotel or restaurant or meeting place, cell phoneof the person you are meeting. You never know when you will need them.

8. Watch how you hold your coffee cup when you are moving

Thistip saved my day. One of my old friends suggested to me (after he had abad experience) that whenever we are walking with a coffee (or tea orwhatever) we need to ensure that cup opening is not facing us. I haveprovided two pictures for your quick reference. Once I was holding acup of coffee and bumped against something and (because I followed thisadvice) there was not a drop of coffee that spilled. Saved my dress andthe meeting.

Risky way of holding coffee cup when you are walking. A small bump and all the coffee will be on your clothes.

Safe way of holding a coffee cup while walking. You can avoid spilling accidentally.

Of course, be careful both the times ;)


9. Check your phone setting before you enter a meeting

Withso many cool ringtones out there, I am sure we are all tempted to tryout some cool ones on our cell phone. While it may be rude to just letthe phone ring, we can create a scene when it rings with a oddringtone. Easier to set it to vibrate mode.

10. Wear your socks before you wear your pants

Simple reason: It will keep your pants less crumpled :)

11. Keep a spare lint remover at your workplace

Iwant to add other personal care items but this is the one that peoplemost forget and it’s hard to find a substitute for a lint remover whenyou need one.

12. Never send a link without setting the context

Whenyou get a plain link without setting the context, the sender is sendingyou data and challenging you to find the information. If you are busy,you may ignore it or save it to read it later. It’s the same way on theother end. If you just send plain links, they may not receive all theattention that you hoped it would receive. If you add a bit of contextand your thoughts on the article (it can be a short paragraph) theeffectiveness will increase.

13. Wear a smile all the time.
[Courtesy: My friend Naveen Lakkur]

It costs nothing but gives a high return on investment. They say it also improves your face value :)

Cheers - Ranjith

technorati tags: , ,