Business Email Etiquette

Are you being Rude?

by Paula N. Strozier

Are you being rude?

• Do you forward e-mails without comment?

–If you cannot take the time to write a comment about why you are forwarding that particular e-mail to that particular person don’t bother forwarding at all or you’ll be viewed as rude

Are you being rude?

• Do you send overly large unexpected attachments?– If you cannot take the time to

determine file size and ask first when would be the best time to send them, you’re being viewed as rude!

Are you being rude?

• Do you start every e-mail with a “Hi” or “Hello” with the recipient’s name

• Do you close with a “Sincerely,” “Take Care,” and your name?– If you cannot take the time to

personally address an e-mail and sign off with courtesy, you will be perceived as demanding or curt, you’ll be viewed as rude!

Are you being rude?

• Do you use multiple !!! or ??? in your e-mails? – If you do, you will come off as

pushy and/or condescending and you’ll be viewed as rude!

Are you being rude?

• Do you include everyone’s e-mail address in the To: field even if they don’t know each other?– If you do, that is a breach of privacy

when you expose your contact’s e-mail addresses to strangers and you will be viewed as rude!

– Send it to yourself and then put everyone else in the bcc:

Are you being rude?

• Do you check email regularly; – Ignoring an email message is

discourteous and can be confusing to sender.

– Use the Out of Office Assistant Tool in Outlook to let people know when you will be returning their emails.

Email Response

• Always reply promptly even if a brief acknowledgement is all you can manage at the time and then follow up later.

• Don’t leave out the message thread; keeping the original text will help the recipient remember what he/she originally said.

• Be careful when replying to mailing list messages or to messages sent to many recipients. Do you want to reply to the whole list or just the sender?

• Do not reply to Spam (unsolicited email).

Subject Field

• Always fill in the Subject field with a brief and concise description of the content of your e-mail; subject line contents can many times determine if your email will even be opened.

– Very important in helping those you communicate with organize and manage their e-mail.

• Avoid using all caps or all small case, terms such as Hi, Help or Please Respond, or the recipient's name in the Subject field; you may be misidentified as a spammer and your e-mail may be deleted.

Addressing Contacts

• Keep it formal unless and until it is clear the relationship dictates otherwise.

• Initially assume the highest level of courtesy: Hello, Mr. Anderson; Dr. Smith; Ms. Jones, etc.

• Include a proper greeting and closing with every message unless you exchange several emails over the same topic as if you are carrying on a conversation.

Message Content• Make sure the content is relevant, concise, and to the

point.

• Be careful how you express yourself; email lacks the cues and clues that convey the sense in which what you say is to be taken and you can easily convey the wrong impression.

• Limit the use of smileys such as :) or :( in business correspondence.

• Use capitalization and punctuation in the same way that you would in any other document; this makes communication easier and helps avoid misunderstandings.

• Use short paragraphs and blank lines between paragraphs.

…continued

…continued• Do not type in ALL CAPS; it is considered yelling or

screaming online; also, text can be more difficult and take longer to read when typed in ALL CAPS.

• Don’t extract and use text from someone else’s message without acknowledgement or permission.

• Read and re-read the message before you send it out!

– Watch out for those mistakes that spell check doesn’t catch.• Example: form instead of from; you instead of your

• Count to ten before hitting the Send button.

Formatting/File Size

• Refrain from formatting your e-mail with colored text and background colors or images in day-to-day communications. Color and formatting choices can make your e-mails difficult to read.

• Using large background graphics that take forever to download, especially if the recipient has a slow phone connection, is inconsiderate.

• If you do feel the uncontrollable need to use any type of formatting in your daily communications, do so sparingly.

• Consider file size when sending messages

• Compress or "zip" large files before sending.

Attachments

• Keep attachments to a minimum.

• Do not send unannounced large attachments to others. Ask first.

Email Abuse• Don’t send or forward frivolous, abusive or

defamatory messages.

– Do not forward or send jokes, “chain letters”, or unimportant e-mails without the recipient’s permission.

• Don’t send unsuitable email messages or attachments.

• Don’t send Virus Hoaxes

What Should NOT Be Included in an Email Message?

• Confidential information

• Concerns about disciplinary action

• Conflicts about grades or personal information

• Concerns about coworkers

• Complaints

• Anything you would be embarrassed for anyone else to read.

• Personal invitations to parties; where only a select few have been invited.

• Check your organization’s email policy

Resources

• www.OnlineNetiquette.com

• www.albion.com/netiquette/corerules.html

• www.expressiveconcepts.com

• www.MISalliance.com

• www.emailreplies.com • www.microsoft.com (Grabby Lady)

• www.NetManners.com

• www.NetMannersBlog.com

• www.NetiquetteForums.com

• www.TechMuseBlog.com

• Thanks to Judy Settle for her excellent research and design skills