Email Etiquette

The word “etiquette” is defined by Wikipedia as “a code of behavior that delineates expectations for social behavior according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group.” While on Downton Abbey it may apply to appropriate dinner attire or which fork to use during which part of dinner, today we will be discussing how it relates to email. Whether you’re an expert at the art of email or rarely use it, here are some refreshers on how to effectively communicate your intended message.

Use the subject line of your email to succinctly introduce your email.

• This will give the recipient a clue as to what’s coming, if it’s urgent, etc. For those of us on Gmail, it’s also a really helpful way to search for an email later. Something more descriptive than “Hi” and less wordy than “There is an issue with the file for that print job you are working on for me that’s due May 18” is optimal.  

Be conscientious about who you copy on an email.

• CC literally stands for courtesy copy, so if you’re working with a few folks on a project and primarily need one person to know the information, but want to keep the others in the loop, CC’ing them is a good route to go. Don’t overuse CC -- this just clutters up inboxes and turns messages into the electronic version of white noise.
• Limit blinding copying (BCC) to when you’re sending an email to a large group of people and want to save them from having to weed through a long list of email addresses to get to your message. Sneakily blind copying someone’s boss to tell on them can get you trouble if the boss doesn’t realize it was a blind copy and mistakenly hits reply all.

In the body of your email, adhere to general grammatical and punctuation rules.

• Be yourself, even be a little casual, but don’t be careless. Misspellings or LOL’s can reflect on your professionalism.
• Use capital letters only when appropriate (acronyms, etc.), because otherwise it’s the on-screen equivalent of yelling. If you want to highlight something, make it bold or underline it instead.
• Be clear in your message, but try to be concise. If you have a long list to communicate, consider using bullet points. This just helps your recipient get the point that much quicker.

Create an email signature.

• And always, always, always include your contact information in it (phone number, address, fax number, website, etc.)! It can be frustrating when you can’t find the info. they need to contact you, especially if it’s urgent.

Finally, remember that email is not private!

• Your recipients can forward your words to anyone at any time, and in the workplace, emails are company property. A good rule of thumb is if it’s something you wouldn’t put on a postcard, don’t put it in an email.