Email Etiquette
By Jennifer Copeland
Why is email
etiquette important? By using proper email language your company will express a
professional image. Emails that get to the point are much more effective than
poorly worded emails. Most correspondence to individuals within an organization
today is written as email. Many families choose email as their preferred choice
of communication. By requiring employees to use suitable, professional language
in all electronic communications, employers can limit their liability risks and
improve the overall efficiency of the organization’s email.
Etiquette Rules
1.
Do not use different types of fonts, colors, clip art, and other
graphics in email. Such an approach merely clutters your message and takes
longer to send and receive, particularly if you include numerous graphics.
2.
Your message should not be keyed in all uppercase. It is okay to
emphasize a word or phrase in all capitals, but use the Caps Lock button
carefully.
3.
Avoid sending messages when you are angry. Give yourself time to settle
down and think about the situation before you send or reply to an email in
anger. Take a walk around your office, drink coffee or tea to soothe your
nerves, or wait 24 hours.
4.
Before you reply to an email, ask yourself if you really need to reply.
If the message was only for your information, no reply is needed.
5.
If another person needs to know about the information contained in an
email, send a copy of the email to another person.
6.
If you send a message in haste and then immediately realize you should
not have done so, if available, use the “un-send” option (i.e. Groupwise).
7.
Answer email promptly. The general rule is to read and respond to your
email once or twice a day.
8.
Use proper spelling, grammar and punctuation. The email will be hard to
read and it will give people a bad impression of you.
9.
Do not attach unnecessary file. Large attachments can annoy individuals
and also bring down their email system. Large attachments should be compressed.
10. Copying of
a message or an attachment without permission from the originator, might
infringe on copyright laws.
11. When
mailing email to several people you should not use the To:
field. Recipients know who you have sent the message to and it also reveals
someone else’s email address with out their permission. All the addresses
should be place in the Bcc: field.
12. Do not
forward chain letters.
These are just a
few of the email etiquette rules. This list could go on and on, but one thing
that is definite is email etiquette is a big plus for the home and office. On
the web, email will be your first way of contact with other people. Using these
email rules are easy and ensure that the original message is clear and responded
to in a timely manner.
Resources
Electronic Mail Etiquette
By David Harris
www.cs.queensu.ca/FAQs/email/etiquette
Email Etiquette – Improve the way you communicate by mail
By Edwin Hayward
www.emailaddresses.com/guide_etiquette
Email Etiquette – rules for effective email replies
www.emailreplies.com