Email Etiquette Guide

Email Etiquette Guide

In this digital age, people usually communicate and contact each other using emails. Every person uses a private email where they can keep in touch with other people from all corners of the world. Emails are also important especially in business. The problem with digital communication is that some people tend to forget about etiquette. Observing proper email etiquette is important as it can greatly affect you and your company’s name and reputation.

One should not forget that there are certain guidelines that need to be followed even in sending an email. This article, will give helpful guides for proper email etiquette. To be a good network citizen and to protect yourself and others, follow these guidelines when sending electronic mail.

What to Do

Write carefully. Once you send an email message, you cannot take it back or make it disappear. The reality is that your messages may be saved for a very long time. They may also be read inadvertently by others, or forwarded to others without your knowledge.

Use upper and lowercase text. Using all uppercase letters means SHOUTING. SEE WHAT I MEAN? Most people finding it annoying and harder to read.

Sign your messages with at least your name. It's nice to add your email address, too, since some email programs make it difficult to see who the sender of the message was.

Address your messages carefully. Some addresses may belong to a group, even though the address appears to belong to just one person.

Use the To, Cc, and Bcc fields correctly. Here are a couple of simple guidelines:

• When sending to several people who know each other, it's okay to put their addresses in the To field.
• When sending to many people who don't know each other, put their addresses in the Bcc field instead.
  (Why? Addresses in the To field are visible to all recipients. Addresses in the Bcc field are not. Using the Bcc field means you're protecting the email addresses, not sharing them broadly.)

Indicate humor or jokes with a sideways smiley face. :-)
The basic smiley is a colon, dash, and right parenthesis. There are many variations.
You can also include something like "<grin>" or "<sarcasm on>" to show your state of mind.

Be diplomatic. Criticism is always harsher when written, and email can be easily forwarded.

Be calm. You may have misunderstood what was meant. Don't reply while you're still angry (this is called "flaming").

Be brief. Don't include background images, pictures, animations, etc. unless they are critical to your message. When replying to a message, you don't have to include the entire text of the original message. Include just enough to give the context of your response.

Watch out for viruses and other threats in attached files. Attached files are a common way to spread computer viruses. Generally speaking, just receiving an attachment cannot infect your computer. But opening or running an attachment can.

If you don't know why you got an attachment, contact the sender directly to verify that it is what it appears to be. Some viruses can attach themselves without the sender even knowing it; some can hide where they actually came from. It is also a good idea to scan all attachments with up-to-date antivirus software before opening them.

 

What Not to Do

Don't forward chain mail! These messages tell you to send or forward them to several other people. Don't! Starting or continuing chain mail violates university policy.

Don't get fooled by Internet hoaxes and computer virus myths. Before you forward a so-called virus alert to everyone you know, check with the IT Service Desk or one of the web sites linked here to see if it's for real. It probably isn't.

Don't send unwanted email. It can be regarded as harassment, which is governed by university policies and codes. Sending email that someone else perceives as abusive or threatening may constitute criminal harassment.

Don't send numerous unsolicited messages ("junk mail" or "spam"). Most people hate getting junk mail. It also slows down the networks and is generally a waste of resources.

Don't forge messages. Altering electronic communications to hide your identity or impersonate another person is considered forgery and violates university policy. Even forgeries intended as pranks or jokes are considered violations.

Don't forward emails unless you have the permission of the author. What they wrote may not have been intended for wider distribution, so it's always better to ask.

 

In-line &  addition to the above, An email using the proper business conventions gets results. A less than proper email will reflect negatively on you and your project. Use these email etiquette rules to make sure every time you hit the "send" button you are noticed for the right reasons. Following points highlighting Email Etiquette Guide: 

• Always use “Reply” instead of “Reply All” to respond to messages received as notifications or announcements or at least be selective on who should be copied. Send or copy others only on a need to know basis. Before you click Reply All or put names on the Cc or Bcc lines, ask yourself if all the recipients need the information in your message. If they don't, why send it? Take time to send your messages to the right people. Beware of the "reply all." Do not hit "reply all" unless every member on the e-mail chain needs to know. You want to make sure that you are not sending everyone on a list your answer.

 

• Except when needed, while replying, ensure that you use “Reply with History Only” so the attachment would not be sent with the reply. The same goes for the Reply All.

 

• If you intend to send Public Announcements, always use BCC instead of TO or CC, to prevent addressees from using “Reply All” and flooding the mailing system. Maintain privacy. If you're sending a message to a group of people and you need to protect the privacy of your list, you should always use "Bcc." Additionally, avoid giving out e-mail addresses to a third party (such as an Evite, newsletter, etc). Make sure that addresses you willingly hand over to third parties stay with them, especially when the service they're offering is free.

 

• Avoid the use of the Return Receipt option if you are sending public announcements.

 

• Avoid Encrypting emails sent as public announcements.

 

• If you intend to forward an email with an attachment, always use “Forward with attachment” and not the “Reply with History and attachment” option.

 

• Emails with big size attachments will be delayed. Even though you are allowed to send messages with big size attachment, it is advisable to keep the attachment size less then the allowable limit (It depends on your e-mail system) to get the message routed instantly.

 

• Use the winzip's “split zip file” option to create smaller chunks of large files for email messages.

 

• Use “Quick Flag” option to prevent archive of emails that you do not wish to be archived.

 

• It’s advisable to delete unwanted emails on weekly basis to keep your mail size small for better performance and manageability.

 

• Avoid sending images with greetings, instead send hyper-links

 

• To avoid spam mails, its good practice to use “Block Mail from Sender” option whenever you receive a spam mail.

 

• To prevent spam, avoid subscribing your official email to social networks and news letters.

 

• Do not write in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, as a message in all caps means that the sender is yelling at the recipient or the sender wants to convey a tone similar to yelling.

 

• Avoid using large size signature or logos.

 

• Only discuss public matters. We've all heard the stories about a "private" e-mail that ended up being passed around to the entire company, and in some cases, all over the Internet. One of the most important things to consider when it comes to e-mail etiquette is whether the matter you're discussing is a public one, or something that should be talked about behind closed doors. Ask yourself if the topic being discussed is something you'd write on company letterhead or post on a bulletin board for all to see before clicking "send."

 

• Briefly introduce yourself. Do not assume the person receiving your e-mail knows who you are, or remembers meeting you. If you are uncertain whether the recipient recognizes your e-mail address or name, include a simple reminder of who you are in relation to the person you are reaching out to; a formal and extensive biography of yourself is not necessary.

 

• Don't "e-mail angry." E-mailing with bad news, firing a client or vendor, expressing anger, reprimanding someone, disparaging other people in e-mails (particularly if you're saying something less than kind about your boss) are all major no-no's. Because e-mail can seem so informal, many people fall into this trap. Always remember that e-mail correspondence lasts forever.

 

• Use exclamation points sparingly. The maximum number of exclamation points in a business e-mail? One. Otherwise, you risk looking childish and unprofessional.

 

• Be careful with confidential information. Refrain from discussing confidential information in e-mails such as someone's tax information or the particulars of a highly-sensitive business deal. Should the e-mail get into the wrong person's hands, you could face serious – even legal – repercussions.

 

• Respond in a timely fashion. Unless you work in some type of emergency capacity, it's not necessary to be available the instant an e-mail arrives. Depending on the nature of the e-mail and the sender, responding within 24 to 48 hours is acceptable.

 

•  Refrain from sending one-liners. "Thanks," and "Oh, OK" do not advance the conversation in any way. Feel free to put "No Reply Necessary" at the top of the e-mail when you don't anticipate a response.

 

•  Avoid using shortcuts to real words, emoticons, jargon, or slang. Words from grown, business people using shortcuts such as "4 u" (instead of "for you"), "Gr8" (for great) in business-related e-mail is not acceptable. If you wouldn't put a smiley face or emoticon on your business correspondence, you shouldn't put it in an e-mail message. Any of the above has the potential to make you look less than professional.

 

•  Keep it clean. Nothing annoys recipients more than when people reply and leave the messages messy, for example, an e-mail chain that includes excessive carets (>>>), or pages and pages of e-mail addresses that weren't protected using Bcc. You can get rid of carets by selecting the text, Ctrl+F to use the Find and Replace command to find a caret and replace all of them with nothing. You can get rid of all the e-mail addresses just by deleting. Clean it up, then send it.

 

• Be clear in your subject line. With inboxes being clogged by hundreds of e-mails a day, it's crucial that your subject line gets to the point. It should be reasonably simple and descriptive of what you have written about. Expect that any e-mail with a cute, vague, or obscure subject will get trashed. Also, proof your subject line as carefully as you would proof the rest of the e-mail.

 

•  Don't get mistaken for Spam. Avoid subject lines that are in all caps, all lower case, and those that include URLs and exclamation points – which tend to look like Spam to the recipient.

 

• Your subject line must match the message. Never open an old e-mail, hit Reply, and send a message that has nothing to do with the previous one. Do not hesitate to change the subject as soon as the thread or content of the e-mail chain changes.

 

•  Pick up the phone. When a topic has lots of parameters that need to be explained or negotiated and will generate too many questions and confusion, don't handle it via e-mail. Also, e-mail should not be used for last minute cancellations of meetings, lunches, interviews, and never for devastating news. If you have an employee or a friend you need to deliver bad news to, a phone call is preferable. If it's news you have to deliver to a large group, e-mail is more practical.

 

• Evaluate the importance of your e-mail. Don't overuse the high priority option. If you overuse this feature, few people will take it seriously. A better solution is to use descriptive subject lines that explain exactly what a message is about.

 

• Keep it short and get to the point. The long e-mail is a thing of the past. Write concisely, with lots of white space, so as to not overwhelm the recipient. Make sure when you look at what you're sending it doesn't look like a burden to read – feel free to use bullet points. The person reading your e-mail should not have to dig through several paragraphs in order to figure out what you're asking. You should state the purpose of the e-mail within the first two sentences. Be clear, and be up front.

 

•  Know your audience. Your e-mail greeting and sign-off should be consistent with the level of respect and formality of the person you're communicating with. Also, write for the person who will be reading it – if they tend to be very polite and formal, write in that language. The same goes for a receiver who tends to be more informal and relaxed.

 

•  Only use an auto-responder when necessary. An automatic response that says, "Thank you for your e-mail message. I will respond to you as soon as I can" is useless. However, one thing these messages do great is alert spammers that your e-mail is real and that they can add you to their spam list.

 

• Train your staff. Business owners should make sure their staff is trained in e-mail communications – don't assume they know what they're doing, and what is considered professional. Set up e-mail standards that everyone at the company should abide by.

 

• Your e-mail is a reflection of you. Every e-mail you send adds to, or detracts from your reputation. If your e-mail is scattered, disorganized, and filled with mistakes, the recipient will be inclined to think of you as a scattered, careless, and disorganized businessperson. Other people's opinions matter and in the professional world, their perception of you will be critical to your success.