Effective Communication:
Pros and Cons of E-mail Attachments.
If your
E-mail system limits how you can format your message, why not use your word
processor to create a document and attach the document to your message?
Why you
should use attachments:
- Take advantage of the feature-rich
formatting capabilities
of your word processor and other applications.
- Ensure that the message looks correct
when it is read.
- The attached document can be printed,
read and modified. This is very useful if the
content is a report or other work
in progress.
Why you
should not use attachments:
- Attachments can be lost when sent
between dissimilar
E-mail systems.
- The recipient may not have access
to the application
(e.g. Microsoft Word) that you used to create the attachment.
- Attachments are usually much larger
than the same text included in a simple mail
message.
- The recipient must take extra steps
to read an attached document.
Consider
an attachment to be an extra to your message. Unless you know for certain
that everyone on your distribution list can read the “features” and attachments that you
use, make sure that your message can stand on its own. The attachment might not
arrive, but your message will.
1. Formatting E-mail messages
