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“Diamonds are forever. E-mail comes close.” - June Kronholz
Ever since its advent, e-mail communication has been a tremendous success among people and with corporates adopting this revolutionary medium it has ushered the ‘era of paper-less office’ as far as inter-office communication is concerned.
Just as in any other form of communication, a certain protocol should be maintained throughout. E-mail etiquette is simple and easy to adopt. It teaches you how to properly communicate via e-mail without offending unwittingly anyone. For most of us checking email as often as possible has become a necessity, if not a craze, today in our corporate work culture.
Though e-mail messages needn’t be as formal as an official business letter, yet it should be professional. Adopt all business protocol which you would normally do in your snail mail business letters.
Since people don’t have time and patience to spend on a lengthy message keep your communication short. Be conscious of the reader’s time constraints.
Don’t pass on personal messages from your official e-mail ID. Beware that your company’s system administrator will always be looking over your shoulder. Comply strictly with your company’s email policy.
Be clear with your message. Don’t assume that your recipient will be knowing things. Give no room for doubt or ambiguity. Express in sentences not in mono-syllables.
Start a paragraph whenever you talk about a new subject. It will make a fine reading for the reader instead of presenting him with a long story to be read in one go! Using appropriate punctuation in your text makes your text readable and understandable.
Don’t type out email IDs unless you are sure about the spelling. Either use the reply option or copy and paste the ID since you may get the spelling wrong and it may not reach at all or it may be sent to wrong persons.
While downloading, as soon as the save dialog box opens give a meaningful name to the file and group relevant files into a folder. A cluttered set of files is not a sign of good email inbox housekeeping. Grouping saves you time and dispenses away with hunting for a particular file from a heap.
Once in a week do the clean up act by deleting old and unimportant messages. If not possible, at least file them efficiently by assigning meaningful names in your PC hard disk and keep your email slim and trim so as to avoid inbox size problems.
One common impulse among first time email users is to go on a blind sign up spree in subscribing newsletters of every Tom, Dick and Harry. Only later do they realize how irritating it is to open the inbox with 50 different subscription mails waiting to be read. Discriminate as to what you need to subscribe and keep them to a minimum. Once you read them remember to click the ‘Delete’ button.
If you don’t have a corporate email ID consider signing up with a good email provider. When you signup for a new email registration remember the following points:
Give a meaningful name to your email id. Avoid giving nicknames or pet names.
Keep your e-mail message functional. Avoid using colorful text, bold and italics. Don’t use fancy fonts and graphic decorations since it may not work in your recipient’s PC. Worse still, it may even be distorted during data transmission unable to convey your message properly.
Include signature files having your name, designation and contact details before you hit the Send button. Try to use digital signatures. It saves time and effort.
When a number of emails are sent back and forth, it is referred to as a thread. A thread contains all the previous emails in the order of chronology. Use the thread only when you think it is necessary. Otherwise, it is better to clean up the email before replying to it.
While forwarding an important and confidential mail, delete the information of the previous senders and their email Ids. Make use of the CC and BCC utility. The BCC option can be used to conceal the email Ids of those persons who wouldn’t like their address being disclosed. It can also help you protect names you don’t want to disclose, for whatever reason. In business emails, it is better to mark a copy of the email to all the people concerned. This can save you the time and effort and give them an update about the matter.
Don’t forget to give the email a relevant and meaningful subject line. Make it specific, eye-catching and pertaining to the subject matter. This will enable the recipient to identify the email if he needs to refer in the future.
Don’t key in your message in all caps. This amounts to shouting on the internet. Another common bloomer is to type the entire email message in lower case.
Spam is unsolicited email. If you have received it at any time, you will know spam isn’t very pleasant. Make it a point not to forward those “Pass it on to a friend”, “You will get a wish”, “Something unpleasant will happen to you if you don’t forward this” type of emails. The appropriate action would be to hit the delete button and take steps to block them. However if they are for noble causes, then you are at liberty to comply with but ensure that you send it only from your personal email ID.
See that you don’t indulge in any adventures through emails by sending irresponsible emails or just-for-fun emails since it is possible to find out the source and you will be taken to task.
Keep the size of your attachments small. Large size attachment sometimes pose problem as to the uploading/downloading and the time involved is long. Also they clog the recipient’s mail box as well as they carry the threat of virus. Ideally an email attachment shouldn’t exceed 1 MB. If possible, give the URL instead.
Once you hit the send button, there are few ways to recall the message and as such you need to be very attentive and careful as to what you send. So “Check – Re-check – Double Check”.
Ideally check for the following before sending:
Slang is slang and it never becomes fashionable in business communication. If you are emailing a person for the first time it is better to avoid acronyms, slang, emoticons and other informal ways of communication. In formal email messages avoid using the following terms:
| Slang | Meaning | |
| 1. | Hi | - Hello |
| 2. | Howda? | - How do you do? |
| 3. | ASAP | - As Soon As Possible |
| 4. | AKA | - Also Known As |
| 5. | AFAIK | - As Far As I Know |
| 6. | BPR | - Best Personal Regards |
| 7. | U, UR | - You, Your |
| 8. | C | - See |
| 9. | 2, 4 | - To, For |
| 10. | FYI | - For Your Information |
| 11. | wrt | - With Regard/ Reference To |
However, if it is acceptable by prior discussion you are free to use.
Adopting email etiquette will help in averting scoops, gaffes and project you as a person who cares for the details. For any business correspondence, be it through snail mail or email you represent your company and as such you become the instant spokesperson on that occasion. Bear in mind that since you are the face of your company you need to be responsible in your email correspondences. One email message is enough to show what kind of person you are and your organizational culture. Email to inform and enhance your company’s image by scrupulously playing by the rules. Uphold professionalism, yet using email can be fun only if we care to follow email etiquette!
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