At WashU IT, effective communication is essential to the mission and delivering an excellent customer experience. To ensure messages are clear, consistent, and reach the right audiences without causing email fatigue, we have developed the Executive/Stakeholder Email Procedure, Executive Etiquette Best Practices, and Mass Email Policy for widely distributed emails from WashU IT.
Watch the recording of IT Operational Communications training or access the presentation for additional information.
Executive/Stakeholder Email Procedure
The procedure applies to all business-related emails to executives/stakeholders*:
- 14 days prior to send date: Secure concept approval from you manager
- 10 days prior to send date: Connect with the OCIO Strategic Communications team (Tahnee Alves, Bethany Behrhorst, Jenny Fauser) to review content concept.
- 7 days prior to send date: Request send date to Emma scheduler and submit content for SLT approval.
- 2 days prior to send date: Submit email to Emma scheduler if approved.
* Routine, job-related emails are exceptions to the procedure. Examples include project updates, when an executive is a customer of your service, and incident related communications.
See who qualifies as an executive in the following links:
School of Medicine Leadership
Executive Etiquette
Communicating with executives and stakeholders requires precision and professionalism. These leaders have limited time and rely on clear, concise information to make decisions. Executive Etiquette Best Practices help ensure our messages are respectful, focused, and effective—reflecting well on both the sender and WashU IT as a whole.
- Use professional tone. Do not use jargon, slang or emojis.
- Keep it succinct but be clear: Too much information equals disinterest and confusion.
- Spell out acronyms.
- Answer the question asked. Don’t assume solutions multiple steps ahead.
- If you don’t know the answer, say that, and include a timeframe by which you will have it (preferably within that same work week).
- Be certain to follow through with any deliverables by the deadline.
- If you anticipate you will miss a deadline, communicate that to your customer at least one day prior to the deadline and provide a new deadline.
- When in doubt, contact the OCIO Strategic Communications team: Tahnee Alves, Beth Behrhorst Craney, Jenny Fauser.
- Use spell check and grammar check in Outlook.
Executive/Stakeholder Email Procedure
Please see the IT Operational Communications training or access the presentation for more information on WashU IT’s Mass Email Policy.
For questions about Executive/Stakeholder Email Procedure, Executive Etiquette Best Practices or Mass Email Policy, contact the OCIO Strategic Communications team.