E-Mail: A Write It Well Guide : How to Write and Manage E-Mail in the Workplace

I was invited to submit a proposal to develop a strategic plan for a local nonprofit. I was swamped with work, but consultants never say no, so I put together a proposal really quickly and attached it to an e-mail to the executive director. A few days later I got a reply telling me that I was not one of the finalists. Actually—and I am ashamed to say this—the director told me that there were multiple mistakes in my e-mail and the attachment and that lack of detail made her concerned that I would not be able to handle all the details in the strategic planning process. I was very embarrassed. I wish I had spent the few extra minutes to proofread what I wrote.

– BELINDA KIM, CONSULTANT

Suppose you received the two e-mail messages that follow from people you'd never met. What would be your image of the writers? Of their organizations?

FROM: designer43@aol.com

TO: c.reilly@brcm.com

SUBJECT: files

i am sosorry I didnt get these to yu mon or tues, retrieving txt files isnt
much trble & I told paul I would do it, they want these files for their
archives so, as longas i dont run into any tech probs ican get them 2 u
t-day. Cant make RTF files frm Quark finals, can make ASCII txt files,
will they do u any good atthis point, ill plan on getting them to u ASAP if
u can still use them.

Fredo

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