We all know what it is like to open your inbox and be overwhelmed with emails. I know I am not the only one with the constant reoccurring thought of “How could I get THAT many emails since I last checked it twelve minutes ago?”
While I am a firm hater of pointless emails, emails with questions that can and should be addressed in a staff meeting, and emails that could be answered with a 30-second phone call, there ARE two emails you should be sending every week if you are a leader within an organization.
They are a weekly team update from the CEO to the entire organization and a weekly goals update from managers to direct reports.
First, a weekly update to everyone on the team, including interns, from the CEO. At the top of a new work week, sending an email with important information regarding the organization and team can build culture and morale to keep employees engaged; ensure everyone understands upcoming goals and timelines; and ensures definitions of success are explicit in addition to the steps to get there.
Information to consider including in this weekly email update includes:
- A list of special guests in the office this week
- Major meetings during the week (like board meetings or meetings with important clients)
- Big accomplishments to celebrate from the previous week
- Goals for the week, broken down by department for large organizations or staff member for smaller ones
- Any important stats related to the overall business like growth numbers or financial stats
- Internal news like promotions or new hires, or personal news like engagements or birthdays
- External news related to the industry
Second, managers should send an email to their direct reports. This email is less in depth than the email from the CEO. This email focuses on the goals and top priorities of the week for the manager. By sharing this information briefly with the team s/he manages, they are able to: one, know where to direct their focus as their top work priorities should fall in line with those of the manager, and two, gain a glimpse into the work of the manager, providing opportunity to begin to develop as a leader and prepare them for work in this (or a similar) role. #ProfessionalDevelopment
This email keeps managers accountable. It also conveys a message of teamwork and cohesion across the team by ensuring everyone has access to information they need to succeed. And of course, this email can be used to share internal wins–continuing to build morale, belonging and motivation among team members.
Two final things of note:
- These emails should be sent consistently to develop trust of leadership. For example, every Monday morning by 10 am, team members can expect these emails in their inbox. Like clockwork.
- These emails are not about micromanaging or surveillance. Rather, they are about team cohesion and roadmapping success. Remember this when sharing goals or work tasks. Do not assign tasks in these emails!
Like I told you, I’m not about sending pointless emails (especially not on a Monday morning!). These emails, however, are not pointless. They are about success, both as a business and a team. Want to learn more about the role internal communications plays in organizational success? Click here.
Does leadership in your organization already send these emails each week? What information do you think is important to include? Tell us in the comments.
About Abby
Abby Siegel Hyman is the Marketing + PR Manager at Amber Hurdle Consulting, and is a dual master’s graduate student at Vanderbilt University. She is the proud mom of the goldendoodle Willie–one of the office dog cheerleaders that keeps AHC innovative and engaged. Connect with Abby on LinkedIn.
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Amber Hurdle Consulting is a multi-award-winning talent optimization firm that pioneers using both science and marketing principles to solve these problems by strengthening your brand from the inside out. As a Predictive Index (PI) Certified Partner, we teach you how to generate and use real data in the form of people analytics, and then we sit on your bench as analytics experts, bringing along almost 20 years of branding, marketing and public relations experience. With these tools, we partner with you to design a compelling internal relations strategy featuring three key areas:
#1 We work with your leaders on their personal brands, so they increase self awareness and see and harvest the greatness in others.
#2 We teach you to use a scientific, repeatable method to recruit, retain and inspire top talent, elevating your culture while crafting a world-class employer brand.
#3 We then help you leverage strong leaders and a “best places to work” environment so that happy employees are serving happy customers…ultimately elevating your business brand.