The number of email messages we receive and send each day increases our likelihood of making mistakes with the potential to seriously impact our careers. Yet, email is a necessary means of communication for most people in businesses.
Email is a form of written communication. A report by The Radicati Group states that email remains the most ubiquitous form of communication. A McKinsey & Company study shows workers spend about 28% of their workweek reading and answering emails. According to DMR, the average office employee receives 121 emails per day and sends 40 emails per day for business reasons. These are average numbers. Some of you process a higher quantity of emails.
With these numbers, it's understandable (but not excusable) that we may get sloppy with how we handle our emails.
Why email etiquette is important
In a nutshell, the way you communicate through email is a reflection of you. Every email you send is a chance to make a good impression… or a bad one. If you master your communication skills, including email, it may enhance your career. Communication repeatedly appears in surveys of employers as a desired skill. Excellent communication is frequently rated as a significant factor in making an individual promotable or employable and key to becoming Professionally Suited.
Often, people will be professional when communicating outside of their organization. When they send emails to members, customers, or vendors, they spend time carefully crafting their message and checking that everything is correct.
However, when communicating internally with bosses, peers, and coworkers, they often get sloppy or even rude. You may be more casual with a coworker that you know well than you would with your boss or someone external to the company. However, be careful. A business email should never be too casual, not even with a coworker you know very well.
Remember, proper email etiquette demonstrates professionalism and shows respect between those corresponding, both internal and external to an organization.
Sometimes email is not the appropriate means of communication. When the conversation includes highly confidential information or emotionally charged messages, another form of communication such as a face-to-face discussion may be better.
Email Nightmares?
How often have you accidentally hit send before finishing your email?
Have you sent an email to the wrong person because you started to type the name, and your computer auto-filled the wrong name, but you didn't catch it until after you had hit send?
Was there a time when you received an email in ALL CAPS or with many exclamation points? Did it feel like the sender was yelling at you?
Do you work with someone who loves to write long emails, and you must read several lengthy, rambling paragraphs of text before finally getting to the message?
Have you had your inbox fill up with emails received because everyone on distribution starts to "reply all," confirming they received the email? Soon you received 30+ emails with the only content being "Received."
These are just a few of the horrors of email that we can avoid by practicing proper email etiquette. Jayson DeMers has written about The Golden Standards for Email Etiquette, which lists 51 email etiquette rules to follow. We are going to look at some of the most common best practices.
Etiquette and Best Practices for Initiating and Sending Email
Cc: / Bcc:
Be sure to send your messages to the right person and only others that need to know. Unnecessary email clogs our inboxes.
Don't "Copy Up." Emailing an employee and copying their immediate supervisor or boss without it being necessary to do so is called copying up. It is sometimes done as a means of coercion or persuasion. This practice makes the person doing the copy up appear to be tattling or kissing up.
Avoid entering the conversation if your name is on the Cc: or Bcc: line. If you have something to contribute, reply to the sender and let that person choose whether to send another email to all the recipients.
Subject
Include a subject line that names the content or purpose of your email message. You can also use the email subject line to grab the reader's attention.
The ideal subject line is 15 words or less, concisely written.
Body/Content:
Use professional greetings and closings in your email. Avoid slang, nicknames (unless professionally used by the recipient), and time-specific greetings (Good morning/afternoon).
Email messages must be clear and brief. Get to the point quickly. People don't like to read long, complicated emails. Most will skim the content of long emails, which could result in missed vital information.
When it is necessary to have a long email, provide the BLUF (bottom line upfront). The BLUF summarizes the email's critical points with instructions to further details found in the body (or attachment).
Emails at the workplace must have a professional and somewhat formal tone to them. Non-business emails such as jokes or emails with political, controversial, or offensive topics should not be sent via your business email.
Choose your words wisely and use proper grammar. Avoid irony, sarcasm, and humor as they can be dangerous over email. Someone could mistake the message. There is always a higher chance your reader may easily misconstrue your words because no gestures, body language, or facial expressions accompany your comments in an email.
Use proper punctuation and write in complete sentences. Limit the use of exclamation points to avoid looking childish or unprofessional.
Avoid capitalizing words. Writing sentences in ALL CAPS gives the perception you are yelling at the recipient and is considered extremely rude. Furthermore, text in all caps is more challenging to read than regular sentence case making the eyes of the reader tire faster.
It is usually acceptable to respond in the same font and size as received. But avoid anything larger than a 14 pt font. For business emails, stick to standard fonts Arial, Times New Roman, Verdana, or a similar font. Avoid italics, overly decorative, or too casual fonts.
Avoid excessive use of color as colored text is more difficult to read. Black text on a white background always looks professional.
Email is not the same as social media or texting, and business email should not include slang terms, certain abbreviations, shortcuts to words, and emoticons.
Never use curse words in an email. Many people find it offensive and not professional.
Clearly state in your email what kind of response you want from the reader. If you need them to provide some information by a specific date, state it clearly.
Closing & Signature
Close business email with something simple like Thanks, Regards, or Best Wishes. Never use abbreviations such as Thx or Rgrds.
Follow the closing with your Signature line. A signature line is essential if the recipient doesn't know you very well. Include your: Name, Company, Position, email, and telephone.
Attachments
Always ask the recipient's permission before sending large attachments or a large number of attachments. Many businesses have restrictions on the number or the size of email attachments an employee can receive.
Name the files logically, so the recipient knows at a glance the attached file content.
Before you send
Review the recipient's name and email address for accuracy.
Check that spelling is correct in all parts of the email. An email with spelling mistakes makes you look incompetent and careless.
Proofread your messages before sending them. Is it clear, concise, and to the point? A good practice I learned from writing proposals is to read your email aloud. This practice increases the likelihood of catching any mistakes.
If you are sending an attachment, check that it is attached.
Etiquette and Best Practices for Responding to Emails Received
Respond to emails as soon as possible. Non-responses often send out negative messages to the writer.
If you receive an email that you should not have received, show some professional courtesy and notify the sender so they can correct their error.
Use extreme care and minimize the use of "Reply All." Do not hit "reply all" unless every member of the email chain needs to know your response. Careless use of "Reply All" has been the source of many business horror stories resulting in lost customers and much embarrassment.
Review the content before forwarding an email. Use caution as some emails should not be forwarded.
Use an autoresponder (out-of-office). If you will be out of the office for an extended period and will not be checking and responding to email, you should use an autoresponder. Your automatic response should be informative, stating you won't respond until a specific date and include a contact to reach for an urgent matter.
Recap
Remember. How you communicate via email is a reflection of you and your level of professionalism. It can influence how others perceive you and have either a positive or negative effect on your reputation. If your email is incoherent, disorganized, and filled with mistakes, the recipient will be inclined to think of you as a careless and disorganized businessperson.
Whether your email is exchanged with members, customers, or vendors externally or with bosses, teammates, and coworkers internally, you should always use professional etiquette. Remember, email lasts forever. Something written in haste or a moment of anger can come back to bite at a later date.
Always, demonstrate professionalism and respect for others when sending and responding to emails.
This post is the fourth in a series of posts on communication. To be notified of new postings, be sure to subscribe at https://www.professionallysuited.com.
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