Communicating with people outside your company.
WHAT DIFFERS
No shared context No shared vocabulary Your message represents your organisation Slower responses
WHAT TO INCLUDE THAT YOU WOULD OMIT INTERNALLY
Who you are Which organisation What this concerns Any reference number
WHY REFERENCE NUMBERS
They let the recipient find the matter.
WHAT TO AVOID
Internal terminology Assumptions about their processes Internal urgency applied to them
WHY THAT LAST ONE
Your deadline is not their priority.
WHAT TO DO ABOUT DEADLINES
State them, with the reason.
WHAT TONE TO USE
More formal than internal, less than legal.
WHAT TO DO IN FIRST CONTACT
State clearly why you are writing, in the first line.
WHAT TO ATTACH
Only what they need.
WHAT TO NAME FILES
Descriptively, with your organisation and a date.
WHY
They arrive among many others.
WHAT TO CONFIRM
Anything agreed, in writing, afterwards.
WHAT TO KEEP
The thread, findable.
WHAT TO BE CAREFUL WITH
Forwarding internal discussion Copying colleagues without considering what they said previously
WHY
Internal candour reads badly externally.
WHAT TO CHECK BEFORE FORWARDING ANYTHING
The whole chain beneath.
