Technology Tips & Tricks - Email Etiquette

Email Etiquette

This week's Technology Tips & Tricks provides an overview of Email Etiquette. A well-crafted email can make the difference between a successful working relationship or potential confusion, insult or conflict – all of which can be heightened if your employees are working remotely. The appropriate email communication can vary depending on multiple factors including what industry you work in, if you are writing to a superior or a peer, if you are writing to one or several recipients, and if you are writing across cultures. However, there are some basic dos and don’ts that employees can use to guide their email management.

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Tip #1

Use a clear, professional subject line.

Show your recipient clearly what the email will cover. Many people will decide whether they will open an email depending on the subject line. For someone who gets hundreds of emails a day, a subject line that is to the point makes it easier for them to sort through their inbox and decide what communications to prioritize.

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Tip #2

Proofread every email you send.

Make sure there are no grammatical or professional errors. Have you spelled the recipient’s name correctly? Are there spelling errors? Are you using simple sentence structures and correct capitalization and punctuation? Ignoring these items compromises your professionalism and the credibility of your email. Don’t depend solely on your standard spell checker. Your email recipients will likely notice mistakes, and while the occasional typo happens to everyone, repeated mistakes and misspellings can look sloppy. Just like autocorrect, you can’t always trust spell-checkers.

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Tip #3

Compose your email before entering the recipient’s email address.

Want to avoid accidentally sending an email before you’ve finished typing and proofreading the message? It is good practice to type out your email first, then add the email address of the recipient when you are ready to send the message.

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Tip #4

Double check that you have the correct recipient.

There is nothing worse than sending an email to the wrong Jess or a confidential document to the wrong client or company.

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Tip #5

Ensure you courtesy copy (CC) all relevant recipients

It is unprofessional to leave out a colleague or client from a relevant email chain. Be mindful of who should be informed about a given matter and respect that.

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Tip #6

You don't always have to 'reply all'.

Think about who needs to read your response; no one wants to read an email chain from 20 people that has nothing to do with them. Nobody likes to open or read emails that have nothing to do with them, their department or their individual responsibilities. Ignoring unrelated emails can be hard, and the repetitive alerts can be irritating if we’re trying to focus on other tasks. Avoid hitting 'reply all' unless you know everyone included on the list really needs to receive the reply.

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Tip #7

Use the appropriate level of formality.

For instance, begin with 'Dear _____', use 'please' and 'thank you' where necessary, and always end your email with the appropriate phrase, 'Kind regards', 'Thank you', 'Sincerely' and so on.

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Tip #8

Keep emails brief and to the point.

No one wants to read an enormous chunk of text. You can always follow up on the matter later or suggest they give you a call if they have any queries or concerns. Regardless of how long it takes you to compose an email, the recipient is likely to only have two to three minutes to read the message. In order to ensure that they read the entirety of what you have to say, keep messages as brief as possible. When faced with a lengthy message, many people will either skim, missing important details, or will put the email aside for later. It’s unlikely an email set aside for later reading will be looked at again given how many emails people receive each day. Your best chance at getting an email read on the first try is to pay attention to the length and remove any unnecessary detail from your message.

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Tip #9

Add a professional email signature.

Professional email signatures can lead to higher ROI rates if you’re engaged in marketing campaigns. It makes sense to give your reader additional information about you or your company. Usually, an email signature includes your full name, title, company name and contact information. You can add a little publicity too, but don’t go overboard with artwork, links, slogans or quotes. Keep your font, type size and text color the same as the rest of your email to set a professional tone.

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Tip #10

Use professional greetings.

It’s important to learn how to use professional greetings when it comes to email etiquette. Be careful when using casual greetings such as 'Hey there' or 'Hi everyone.' While casual, friendly greetings are appropriate in many types of emails, make sure you know what sort of audience you’re addressing.

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Tip #11

Be wary of excessive exclamation points.

If you are in the habit of using exclamation points, be careful to limit them when expressing your enthusiasm or excitement. Some people tend to overuse this punctuation mark and end up using several exclamation points in the span of a few sentences. This may make the writer sound overly eager or even immature. Use them sparingly and only when it is really appropriate.

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Tip #12

Be careful when using humor.

Without the corresponding facial expressions or tone of voice, any humor used over email can easily get lost in translation. In fact, it is better to leave all forms of humor off professional email exchanges unless you know the receiver very well. Also, something you find personally funny might not be remotely amusing to someone else. In some cases, humor can even seem rude or hurtful, so when in doubt, it’s best to leave it out.

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Tip #13

Always consider how cultural differences may affect your communication.

Email can very easily lead to miscommunication due to cultural differences, especially when your recipient can’t see your facial expression or body language. If possible, it’s a good idea to customize your message to the cultural context of your chosen recipient. Remember, there will likely be time zone differences you need to take into account as well.

Using the right tone.mp4

Tip #14

Consider your tone.

Just as humor may be misconstrued, your writing tone might be easy to misunderstand without the perspective one may get from hearing your voice. As a result, it’s easy to come across as abrupt when you are simply trying to be straightforward. Read your email aloud prior to sending it. If it comes across as negative or rude to you, it will likely be perceived that way by the reader. If you want positive results, remember your basic manners: say 'please' and 'thank you,' and try not to use words that are overly-negative or dramatic.

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Tip #15

Avoid authoring emails when you’re angry.

Regardless of the context – how you’re feeling when writing the email, who the email is being sent to, or what has happened during your workday or in your personal life – work emails must always strike a professional tone. Just as you wouldn’t want to let your negative emotions bleed into a phone or face-to-face conversation with a customer, you should keep anger or frustration out of email.

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Tip #16

Leave behind the abbreviations.

While industry-specific jargon and abbreviations might seem like a familiar language to you, this type of writing can be extremely confusing for those outside of your organization – most specifically, your customers. Additionally, the use of jargon and abbreviations, even those that you might consider to be well-known beyond your business or industry, comes across as casual and unprofessional. In all cases, it’s best to omit such language in favor of writing words out in their entirety and using terms that would be understood by the public instead.

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Tip #17

Keep inappropriate topics offline.

It’s best to keep emails free of any derogatory messages about coworkers, customers, or your organization as a whole. Keep this type of information offline – or, ideally, avoid it altogether. While we know realistically that any business will have its problems, putting this type of negative content on record through email can cost you your job and reputation. This applies to emails that you receive as well. In addition to never authoring this type of content, it’s advisable not to forward emails you receive that contain questionable material. Hit delete without engaging with the message in any way. What might seem to you to be a harmless political joke could be intensely offensive to a customer. Inappropriate topics, or topics that are at all questionable, have no place when trying to hit the ideal business-friendly tone that will enhance your team’s email communications.

More Email Formatting Tips.mp4

Tip #18

Explore even more email formatting tips!

Is writing a bad email going to ruin your career? No. But learning the unspoken rules for writing professional emails can improve how competent you appear in the eyes of your colleagues. In this Harvard Business Review collaboration with YouTube creator Jeff Su, you’ll learn how to better organize your email communications and avoid typical rookie mistakes.