EMAIL ETIQUETTE TIPS Traci Kasten Executive Assistant Chief Operations Office 896-0667 x179 tkasten@rrps.net
SENDING EMAILS Make sure your email contains a courteous greeting and closing. Address your contact with the appropriate level of formality. Use spell check. Read your emails out loud before you send them to make sure the tone is appropriate. A few words like please and thank you go a long way! Be sure to include relevant information don t be too general. Use proper sentence structure. Multiple instances of!!! Or??? can be perceived as rude or condescending.
Don t send emails when you are angry or emotional. Walk away for a while. Refrain from using the Reply to All button unless necessary. Some people may not be interested in your opinion. Type in complete sentences. Always respond to an email, even if the sender didn t ask for a reply. Be timely in your response. Always fill in the Subject line and be accurate in your description. Keep emails brief and too the point. Save long conversations for the telephone. Always end your emails with Thank You, Sincerely, SOMETHING.
FORMATTING EMAILS Don t type in all caps in email speak, that is YELLING! Don t use bold type. Don t use patterned backgrounds. Use only standard fonts. Use emoticons sparingly. Don t type emails in all lower case it gives the perception of laziness or lack of education.
ATTACHMENTS Never send large attachments without notice. Never open an attachment from someone you don t know. Be sure your virus, adware and spyware programs are up to date before sending or opening attachments. Use PDF format when possible for attachments. Using other formats may mean that the recipient cannot open what you send.
TO, FROM, CC, BCC, RR, SUBJECT: Only use Cc: when it s important for those you copy to know about the contents of the email. Overuse can lead to your emails being ignored. Don t use Return Receipt on every email. It s often viewed as intrusive or annoying and can be declined by the other side anyway. Those in the To field are those you want a response from. Those in the Cc field are for those who need an FYI only. Always fill in the Subject line or your email could get tagged as spam. Use your discretion when adding addresses to the To:, Cc:, BCc: fields. Never expose your friend s or contact s email address to strangers by listing them in the To field. Use BCc! Make sure your intentions are proper when using BCc: It can be seen as talking behind someone s back.
EMAIL FORWARDING Don t forward chain emails.most are hoaxes. If someone asks you not to forward their email, respect their wishes. When forwarding an email, take the time to type a personal comment to the person you are forwarding it to. If you are forwarding an email to more than one person, put your email address in to To: line and their email addresses in the BCc: line. This will protect the recipients email addresses from being published by someone they don t know. This is a serious privacy issue! Be very careful when forwarding emails on political or controversial issues. The recipient may not appreciate your point of view.
EMAIL PERCEPTION, PRIVACY & COPYRIGHT Try not to make assumptions when it comes to email ask for clarification if necessary. Posting or forwarding of private email is copyright infringement. You must get permission from the author. When there is a misunderstanding by email, pick up the phone to work things out. Know that when you type, and the efforts you make (or don t make) will indicate what is important to you and if you are an educated, courteous person. If you forward an email that turns out to be a hoax, send an apology follow-up email to those you send the misinformation to.
BUSINESS EMAIL Think of your work email as though it was on your business letterhead and you ll never go wrong! If you cannot respond to an email promptly, at least send a quick email back to the sender letting him/her know when they can expect a response from you. Be formal when responding to a business email. It reflects courtesy & respect. Be very careful when replying to all in a business setting. Doing so as a CYA can backfire and be seen as petty. Never send business attachments outside the business day and always confirm the format it should be sent in. Use PDF whenever possible.
THINGS TO THINK ABOUT: Before getting upset because someone didn t respond to an email.check with them to see if it went to a junk or spam folder. Never assume! Wait until the next day to respond to an email if you are angry/emotional. Feel free to modify the subject line to accurately reflect the topic of the email if the conversation s direction has changed. When it comes to email communications know who you can trust.
Take the time to review each email before clicking send. This will allow you to check to make sure you re being clear and that your tone is appropriate. Never hit Reply to an old email when discussing a new topic. Always add email addresses of new contacts to your approved senders list so they don t get sent to a Junk folder. Review your Trash file before you permanently delete them just to make sure. If any email states that you should forward it to 5 friends, do everyone a favor and hit the delete button. Don t mass email people who didn t ask to be on your mailing list. And finally..
SOMETIMES OLD SCHOOL IS A GOOD THING! Use email appropriately. Sometimes a telephone or face-to-face conversation is fitting. This is especially true when an issue or problem isn t getting resolved over email after several attempts.