Email etiquette for healthcare professionals

Emails have become a crucial part of our lives, as they are by far the most widely used avenue for correspondence in any field. The emails you send portray a virtual image of you and are closely tied to your path towards professional excellence and personal growth. But how many of us received proper education on how to write and send emails? Although the way you draft emails depends on the context, most of the bullet points I’ve listed below hold for almost any scenario.?

·??????Rethink before sending:

Email fatigue?is a real entity, and I am sure I have it. Ask me why? because I get a ballpark of 50 emails every day, mostly subscription emails from medical journals, conference announcements, and daily news in my medical field, and that’s only my work email. But you’d be surprised to know how many of them are “reply to all” apocalyptic emails, or sent to me alongside another 100 recipients, while I have nothing to do on that email thread. Should I answer? should I ignore it? Email burden can and should be reduced. In fact, the average person with access to the internet received 66 emails per day in 2020. Per Statista.com, a mind-boggling 306 billion emails were sent and received?every single day?in 2020.

How can you not cause email fatigue for your peers? think twice before sending, especially if you’re “replying to all”. First, does your message merit a separate email? second, do all the people on the recipient list need to be made aware of that message? The best way to prevent email fatigue is to reduce the burden of emails. Actually, let’s take a step back for a moment. Is email the right avenue for sending that message? Some emails should never be sent.?

·??????Get the attention:

The subject line of an email is the first impression you make. It should either be a summarization of your email or briefly state “what you need/want” from the recipients. Best subject lines are brief and to-the-point, and avoid putting the main body of your email in the subject line.?Besides, have you ever thought why Starbucks coffee baristas write your name on your cup of latte? In addition to helping the baristas sort out the orders, it is done to create a personal connection with you as the customer. Everyone enjoys seeing their names from time to time, and using names in key places of an email can be a fair player if you want to increase the chances of getting a reply or building a personal rapport.

·??????Be nice:

Remember that a lot is going on in the world right now, so being a little extra nice in your email can go a long way. Use “please” and “thank you”, in particular, if you are emailing someone for the first time, asking for something, or trying to fire up an email thread for networking opportunities. Depending on the context, starting the email with notes of appreciation can be helpful.?

·??????Be brief:

A brief and to-the-point email means that you respect other people’s time. Assume that everyone on your email thread is busier than you are. Avoid small talk. At the same time, one-word emails such as “received”, or “noted”, are rude.?

·??????Emotional cues:

This one may be a bit more controversial, as it is highly context-dependent. But if you’re a medical or business professional, using simple punctuations to relay your emotions can spice things up. The most notable one is the exclamation mark to relay excitement:

See you soon,

vs.?

See you soon!

Overall the use of digital body language to relay emotions should be avoided, or only limited to intimate or friendly situations. Please do not put emojis or dancing gifs at the end of your emails.

·??????The ending:

Is there a good rule of thumb to sign off on professional emails? You may use words or structures such as “kind regards”, “your truly”, “cheers”, etc in different contexts, but probably the most widely accepted one -that can never go wrong- is a simple “best” or “best wishes”.??Also, have you heard the expression: save the best for the last? if you want to make a memorable last impression, or simply bring up a subject that is not totally related to the body of your email, the “PS line” can be useful. If you’re using a signature, keep it simple and classy, and do not use confusing logos.

PS: Please refrain from sending emails at 3 AM half asleep in your bed. If it’s a work-related email, it should be limited to work hours. Try to set boundaries for sending and reading work-related emails.