Email has become one of the most popular modes of communication in the business world and because correspondence says a lot about your organisation you need to be aware of some basic email etiquette to ensure this communication is always delivered in a professional manner …….consider these 15 tips when you next send an email:
- Use a descriptive subject line, avoid leaving it blank or putting an irrelevant or general subject.
- Address the recipient by name to add a personal touch to your email
- DO NOT USE ALL CAPS!
- Avoid over using punctuation marks!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Avoid using abbreviations, such as BTW (by the way) or TTYL (talk to you later), not everyone is familiar with them.
- Avoid using HTML in your e-mails, not everyone can view it and it takes away from the professional image of the email
- If you are sending an attachment, make a note of it and describe what its purpose is in the body, some people are very wary of attachments due to the threat of computer viruses.
- Keep your emails as concise as possible without leaving out any important information.
- Always leave a signature line (include contact details etc..), don’t assume the person already knows who you are.
- Do not keep on sending the same message to the same person over and over again, if they don’t respond after a few days, send them an e-mail enquiring if they received your first email or better still ring them.
- Use spell check and proof read and revise your email after it’s done.
- Use threads, if you get a message from someone and you are going to respond, don’t send a new message, simply hit the reply option on your email, this keeps the original subject line with “Re:” in front of it.
- If you are sending out an email to a large private list don’t use CC: (carbon copy) use BCC: (blind carbon copy) to protect the addresses of the recipients.
- Remember most emails are never completely private; there is always a chance of someone else besides the intended recipient reading it, so remain professional at all times
- When you receive a message reply to it as soon as you can – always acknowledge emails
Hope you find these tips useful and thanks for reading,
