Even after the advent of social media and improvements in text messaging, email is still the mode of communication that continues to prev...
1. Greeting
s and Send-offs
I
never start an email with the contents. An email always begins with a
sound introduction or with the recipient's name. This will, in the
beginning, let them know to whom they are speaking with. Whe
2. Know When to Call
Not
all communication has to occur through email. Once conversation begins
to mention specifics, it may be wise to schedule a phone call—this can
prevent misunderstandings and can even expedite your correspondence. It
is also respectful to pick up the phone when a meeting, scheduled by
email, is cancelled.
3. Mind Your Punctuation
Professionalism
involves knowing how to mind your punctuation. In a standard email
correspondence, you should use periods and question marks about 95% of
the time. Leave exclamation points to when your conversation is
light-hearted, and you're familiar with the recipient.
4. The Clock is Ticking
When
dealing with business, never keep them waiting. As the saying goes,
"time is money". You should never let a recipient wait more than two
days for your reply. Just like a phone call, waiting on an email can
hold up progress on whatever project you are attempting to establish.
After all, isn't that why you're emailing and not using snail mail?
5. Write it Right
Grammar
and spelling should be two considerations when emailing in a
professional environment. Even though the content is the star of the
email, ensuring that your grammar is in check allows the business
acquaintance to know that you are taking the conversation seriously.
Most email clients have spelling and grammar checks, so use them!
6. Consider Company Culture
Let's
be honest—while grammar and tone should be professional, we must still
consider the companies that we are contacting. Inner business emails
between more relaxed companies will of course be a bit different from,
let's say, the White House. While minding your grammar, continue to give
off an approachable vibe while emailing.
7. Engineer the Perfect Subject Line
The
first thing your recipient sees is the subject line. Frankly, they will
discern the importance of an email by a subject line before reading its
contents. Make sure you leave a great impression by being mindful of
capitalization, being concise, and to the point.
8. Reply vs. Reply-All
Nothing
is more embarrassing than sending a mass email that was intended for
only one recipient. This is the result of an email that began with
multiple recipients. When replying, you will have the option to
"Reply"—which emails the sender—or "Reply-All", which sends your message
to everyone the original message was sent to. Double check before
sending, or you'll be sorry.
9. Consider The Privacy of Others
There
will be instances when you'll have to send business emails to multiple
recipients who may not know each other. The recipient's email address is
added to the "To:" section in average emails, but in multiple recipient
emails, you should add the addresses to the "BCC" or Blind Carbon Copy
section, to prevent others from viewing recipient addresses.
10. Tailor a Signature
Unlike
a greeting or send-off, an email signature is automatically added to
the bottom of a message, where you can add a small biography and contact
information. This doesn't replace a quality greeting, but it does allow
a new acquaintance to learn more about you and to know where to get in
contact with you.
11. Go in Vacation Mode
Several
times a year, during vacation, I usually find myself separated from my
email. As seen in tip #4, time is of the essence, and it's rude to leave
an email in your inbox unanswered. To alert individuals of my absence, I
add an auto-responder (through Gmail, but also available on other
clients) mentioning of why I'm gone and when I will return.
12. Be Mindful of Links
Hackers
have found ways to add viruses and malware to attachments and links.
When forwarding emails, ensure that the links and attachments are safe.
Also, reduce the number of chain messages you forward and never send any
from an unknown recipient.
13. Create a TL:DR Summary
TL:DR
is an acronym standing for "Too long, didn't read". It's quite blunt
and is the case for many busy business acquaintances who simply are too
busy to read long email conversations. For this reason, when forwarding
or periodically when replying to conversations, summarize previous
points in bullets to keep recipients up-to-speed on email contents.
14. Job Search Tip: Resume and Cover Letter
When
searching for a job, email etiquette is of the utmost importance. When
replying to a job board, always ensure that you include your resume and
cover letter. By default, these should be attachments unless they
explicitly are against them.
15. Ask Before Attaching
The
reason companies don't like large attachments is because companies are
given a specified storage space they pay for. Your large attachment eats
up their storage allowance. Before sending a large attachment, or
multiple ones, always ask for permission from the recipient.
16. When is Irony Appropriate?
Irony
is a popular form of comedy for most people. However, in a business
setting, you should shy away from it. Irony in any written form can be
misunderstood at best, and at worst be taken as offensive. Save the
irony for emails within your company.
17. Rethink Your Font
A
company email isn't a PowerPoint presentation from your sixth grade
English project: leave the fancy fonts for another time. Not only does
it come off as unprofessional, some companies may not have the email
clients that can present such fonts. Besides, who wants to read
Edwardian Script font anyway?
Professional Fonts to Use
- Times New Roman
- Georgia
- Veranda
- Arial
- Book Antiqua
- Calibri
18. Documents Open for All
Obscure
file types can prevent companies from being able to open the
attachments you send, which can slow down business operations and
projects. Leave attachment file types to PDFs, .doc, .txt, or .jpeg.
They usually are of a reasonable size and can be opened on most machines
and operating systems.
19. Separate Work from Play
It's
not wise to use your company email to send personal messages to friends
and relatives. Use your business email for colleagues and business
acquaintances only, for two reasons: to maintain the professional nature
of your inbox, and to limit wasteful use of email storage space.
20. Ensure Your Email Wasn't Trashed
If
you haven't heard back from a receiver, chances are that they are busy.
Inquiring on whether or not they got your message could make it worse,
but there are times when emails are quite pertinent. Wait a week to a
week-and-a-half if time allows, and if you still don't have a reply,
call them or dispatch another email.
21. Make Your Intentions Clear
When
recipients only have a minute or two to read an email, you should make
your message as concise and to the point as possible. Provide an outline
in the beginning of the email of what you expect from the recipient
before going a bit in depth.
22. Connect Email to Your Phone
To
prevent recipients from waiting, connect your business email to your
phone to ensure that you are able to reply to them in a timely manner.
In the settings of most smart phones, you are able to adjust your
signature.
23. Inner Company Acronyms
While
acronyms are ill-advised to new acquaintances, creating company
acronyms between co-workers can be a clever way to ensure that they
understand the importance or intent of the message. Acronyms like "NRN"
(No Reply Needed) can allow colleagues to know what messages are urgent
and what can wait.
24. Extend What's in Email
It's
easy to blame forgetting or misunderstanding a meeting request given
through an email. Most email clients don't have alarm systems. This
means it's your responsibility to apply outside the inbox what is
relevant (creating calendar alerts for meetings, etc) to be productive.
25. Consider Time Differences
It
can be aggravating to request a call or meeting through email and not
hear back within a timely manner. It is necessary, however, to ensure
that this isn't due to time zone differences. If you are requesting a
call from an Australian acquaintance and you're in New York, ensure time
zone differences are worked out.
26. Check Your Calendar
To
prevent unnecessary back and forth emailing, it is wise to be mindful of
traditions and holidays in the culture or religion of your recipient.
27. Inform Employees on Etiquette
It's
fine and dandy to follow all of these email etiquette tips yourself,
but if you are the only one following them, it still gives your business
a bad image. Share valuable email etiquette tips with your co-workers
to ensure the business name is kept sound.
Let
us know in the comments below of a moment when your email etiquette left
a good impression on the recipient. Also, let us know when email
etiquette was tossed out the window, and its outcome.
source: LifeHack
