Email Etiquette

It is amazing to find that some companies have still not realised how important their email communications are. Many companies send email replies late or not at all or send replies that do not actually answer the questions you asked. If your organisation can deal professionally with email, this will provide your organisation with that all-important competitive edge. Moreover, by educating employees as to what can and cannot be said in an email, you can protect your organisation from awkward liability issues.

Why Do You Need Email Etiquette?

A company needs to implement etiquette rules for the following three reasons:

Professionalism: by using proper email language your company will convey a professional image.

Efficiency: emails that get to the point are much more effective than poorly worded emails.

Protection from Liability: employee awareness of email risks will protect your company from costly law suits.

Etiquette Rules

• Pay attention to the following rules when sending an email:
• Be concise and to the point. Do not make an e-mail longer than it needs to be. Remember that reading an email is harder than reading printed communications and a long email can be very discouraging to read.
• Answer all questions and pre-empt further questions.
• Use proper spelling, grammar and punctuation. This is not only important because improper spelling, grammar and punctuation give a bad impression of your company, it is also important for conveying the message properly. Emails with no full stops or commas are difficult to read and can sometimes even change the meaning of the text.
• Make it personal. Not only should the e-mail be personally addressed, it should also include personal i.e. customised content.
• Answer swiftly. Customers send an email because they wish to receive a quick response. If they did not want a quick response, they would send a letter or a fax. Therefore, each email should be replied to within at least 24 hours, and preferably within the same working day.
• Do not attach unnecessary files. By sending large attachments you can annoy customers and even bring down their email system. Wherever possible try to compress attachments and only send attachments when they are productive.
• Use proper structure and layout. Since reading from a screen is more difficult than reading from paper, the structure and lay out is very important for email messages. Use short paragraphs and blank lines between each paragraph. When making points, number them or mark each point as separate to keep the overview.
• Do not overuse the high priority option. We all know the story of the boy who cried wolf. If you overuse the high priority option, it will lose its function when you really need it. Moreover, even if a mail has high priority, your message will come across as slightly aggressive if you flag it as 'high priority'.
• Do not write in CAPITALS. IF YOU WRITE IN CAPITALS IT SEEMS AS IF YOU ARE SHOUTING. This can be highly annoying and might trigger an unwanted response in the form of a flame mail. Therefore, try not to send any email text in capitals.
• Read the email before you send it. A lot of people don't bother to read an email before they send it out, as can be seen from the many spelling and grammar mistakes contained in emails. Apart from this, reading your email through the eyes of the recipient will help you send a more effective message and avoid misunderstandings and inappropriate comments.
• Do not use email to discuss confidential information. Sending an email is like sending a postcard. If you don't want your email to be displayed on a bulletin board, don't send it. Moreover, never make any libellous, sexist or racially discriminating comments in emails, even if they are meant to be a joke.
• Use active instead of passive voice. Try to use the active voice of a verb wherever possible. For instance, 'We will process your order today', sounds better than 'Your order will be processed today'. The first sounds more personal, whereas the latter, especially when used frequently, sounds unnecessarily formal.