Leaders often need to be the arbiters of information for their teams.

That means you might need to send “news and notes” emails that summarize the latest company news and set the table for the weeks ahead.

Here’s the best way to craft the message.

Subject line: [2-3 examples of topics from inside the message; for instance, “Acme updates, welcome Sandy Kim and kitchen renovations”

Note: Why be so specific in the subject line? Because employees will become bored if every single “news and notes” email from you has the same standard subject line (ex: Weekly Team News and Notes). Who would be interested in a generic subject line like that?

Hi everyone,

Note: Lead with the most important info.

First off, I want everyone to know about the updates we’ve made to the Acme project. Many thanks to Joey and Sara for their hard work. Here’s the latest:

• The launch date is now set for March 17.
• The client did finally approve the home page rebrand so we can put that issue to rest.
  Acme expects to have a celebrity endorse the new launch but they won’t tell us yet who it is. Secrets, secrets.
• In other news, please welcome our summer intern, Sandy Kim. She’s a junior communications major at Big State University and ready to help with various design and marketing projects. Be sure to include Sandy in staff meetings and give her things to do!

Lastly, all the crazy construction is over in the staff kitchen. We now have granite countertops and a new fridge. It’s like a brand new space.

As always, I leave you with an inspirational message:

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Make it a great week,

– Leader’s first and last name

Featured photo: Natasha C Dunn (Flickr)