A Brief Guide to Email Etiquette
Etiquette is not a set of rigid rules of dos and don’ts. Etiquette provides a basic guideline of how a group of people behavior together. The drive behind etiquette is politeness and respect for those around us.
Etiquette requires awareness of others and discernment to determine an appropriate course of action. We also need a degree of flexibility and compassion as everyone is bound to make mistakes and act in ignorance on occasion (or all the time).
A lack of email etiquette denotes a lack of professionalism so an ignorance to email etiquette is no excuse. Here are a few basic guidelines:
- Use proper grammar, punctuation and spelling. Sending sloppy emails make it more difficult for the recipient to read them. (Emails written on Blackberrys and iPhones, however, are given more latitude.)
- Respond to emails promptly. Every corporate culture is different, but try to respond within 6 to 24 hours, depending on the context. (Expecting people to respond to email in a few hours is insane. If you’re culture is driven by meetings, which most are, responding to email within a few hours is not a reasonable request.)
- Think before you forward. Forwarding an email that was addressed exclusively to you may be inappropriate. But when you draft an email, always assume it will be forwarded—so be careful what you write.
- Don’t use ALL CAPS and funky fonts. All capitals means you’re shouting. Funky fonts are difficult to read and look unprofessional.
- Be concise. Respect the recipient’s time. Thoughtfully formulate your ideas so the recipients can quickly read them and reply accordingly.
- Know when to use the ‘Reply to All’ and ‘CC’ fields. When you send an email, chances are the recipient will read it. Evaluate who needs to receive the message and who doesn’t. Many executives reply to all and copy too many people on their emails.
- Make your questions easy to read. If you have multiple questions in your email, make it convenient for the recipient to review each question and respond accordingly. Bullets and numbers are helpful if you have more than two questions.
- Answer all questions. When responding to an email, do your best to respond to all questions in order to minimize email exchanges.
Most rules of email etiquette come down to respecting the recipient’s time, eliminating confusion and reducing the number of emails. The few extra minutes these guidelines take reduces the inefficient time lost as a consequence of negligent email practices.
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