Page 370 in chapter 12 talks about how companies can use FAQ etc., to help reduce their need to respond directly to customers.
At work my manager always wants us to prepare mass communication messages (messages sent to more than 100 people) in a Q & A format. Even though he is a very busy person, he spends a lot of time with us after we come up with a initial draft. When we started doing this, in the beginning i used get little frustrated thinking its just an e-mail and my manager is wasting time with little things.
Last month we introduced a new process to which we were expecting a lot of resistance, as I knew my manager wants the message to be very clear, if spent some considerable amount of time preparing it and then reviewing it with him. When the message was sent out I was surprised to see that there was only one reply and that to was just some one saying they really like the change. Previously when such messages we sent, we used to get at least 10 to 20 messages asking questions. This made me realize that spending time while preparing the message not only sends a clear message but in the end it also saves time as we do not have to spend time replying to questions.
Here are few thing I think we need to concentrate when sending e-mail to large group of people:
1. Does the message clearly address why we are sending it and what information we need to convey?
2. Does it address all the questions we can think that the people receiving the e-mail might have?
3. If the message is informational, does it convey that it is informational people do not have to respond.
4. If the message is about some change in process, does the message have all the advantages that the new process has and is it composed in a positive.
5. If there is no way we are going change the decision does not the message put forth this message in a positive tone. (I thought this was impossible to do, but after learning from manager i feel this can be done in most cases).
6. We do not want to put too much information in the e-mail, so does the message contain pointers for people to find more information about the message if they want.
7. Does it clearly specify e-mail addresses of specific people to contact in case the have questions, this helps in stopping people from just doing a reply-all.
I hope this is helpful.
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1 comment:
The FAQ format is helpful in many contexts. This is best if the questions and answers are generated from actual responses, or the relevance is in some other way authentic. Occasionally, in my experience, FAQ's do not address my particular question, and they are the only means of getting assistance. That's why, as you noted, it is important to include pertinent email addresses in the event of further questions.
If care is taken in communicating, reducing ambiguity and providing clarity, the result is much better.
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