What Is E-mail Etiquette?

By Brandi Foy

E-mail etiquette is a set of rules that are recommended by business and communication experts who believe that people are not using e-mail effectively or appropriately. Many people communicate in their e-mail messages with less formality and too aggressively. When e-mailing someone it is important to be as clear and concise as possible. Often it is much easier to offend someone in an email than when you have a voice conversation. Judgments about a person’s intentions are based on their writings and are void of the benefits of hearing the tone of voice and seeing gestures so, interpretation of intentions is left up to the reader. E-mail etiquette offers guidelines that writers can use to improve communication between themselves and their readers.

Before clicking the “send” button you should take the following things into consideration:

· How should the e-mail be formatted

· Who is the e-mail being sent to

· Can attachments be sent

· How long should the e-mail be

· Is someone being flamed

· When not to send an e-mail

How the E-mail Should Be Formatted

Be sure to use text wrap.
Try to keep the e-mail brief.
Return e-mails in the same day.
Use correct capitalization and punctuation.
Format your e-mail to be sent in plain text rather than in HTML.
Write a new salutation or greeting for each e-mail.
Be sure to write a specific subject in the subject line.

Who Is the E-mail Being Sent To?

It is important to know who will receive your e-mail because it helps you think about the tone of your writing and when sending an e-mail to more than four people regularly you should create mailing groups so that the recipients do not need to scroll through names before they can get to the content of the e-mail.

Can Attachments Be Sent?

Attachments can be sent as long as you are sure your recipients can receive them. Some tips to consider before attaching a document are as follows:

Title the document you are attaching in a way that is easy for the recipient to find once he or she downloads it to his or her files.
Tell your recipient what type of software was used to create the document.
Make sure that you do not send overly large attachments.
Don’t send unnecessary attachments

How Long Should the E-mail Be?

Generally an e-mail should be one page printed or the length of the computer screen before scrolling, although there are times when e-mail messages need to be longer to convey important information.

Is Someone Being Flamed?

Venting emotion online or sending inflammatory e-mails is considered flaming. You cannot take back what you say when e-mailing. Things to consider before venting in e-mail include:

Would I say this to this person’s face?
Am I putting the receiver in an awkward position?
How would I feel if I got this e-mail message?

When Not To Send an E-mail

Many subjects are too sensitive to discuss over e-mail mainly because misinterpretation could have serious consequences. Topics that should generally be resolved outside of e-mail include:

Disciplinary action
Conflicts about grades or personal information
Concerns about fellow classmates/workmates
Complaints

Works Cited