The importance of email etiquette
As email takes over from text messaging as Ireland's favoured form of communication, due to the proliferation of smart phones, it's easy to see why it is the preferred form of communication in today's workplace. Barry Whelan of Excel Recruitment explains the importance of good email etiquette
Print21 January 2014
Smart phones allow us to send and receive messages from anywhere. They’re conveniently always on you and what’s best is that you are not afraid that you might be interrupting someone by texting or calling them on the phone. An email is less intrusive.
However, this convenience is leading people to make embarrassing mistakes that may be detrimental in a professional interaction. For example, you could easily miss a spelling error while typing out an email on your phone or come off as too casual or unprofessional in tone or content. Email etiquette, whether from a smart phone or a desktop, should always be considered in professional communication.
1. Use a professional email address
First and foremost you must have a professional email address, even if all your pals are on your hotmail address from college, getting an email job application from Sirtwinklytoes@gmail.com (which I did) is not the best way to introduce yourself. Ideally in all company communication, company email should be used, but if using a personal email address, whether for convenience or because you are self employed, always choose a professional one. Some version of your name will be available.
2. Use a clear, direct subject line
Subject lines are there to be used. They give the reader an indication of the priority and content of the mail and will ensure more urgent mails are read. Examples of a good subject line include: "Meeting date changed," or "Quick question about….". Using a subject line encourages the recipient to read the mail.
3. Keep ‘reply all’ to a minimum
Life is busy enough as it is without new daily tasks like clearing your email. "Reply alls" tend to be a nuisance, no one wants to read emails from 20 people when it is not important or not to do with them. They could just ignore the emails, but most people get notifications of new messages on their smart phones or distracting pop-up messages on their computer screens. Don’t hit "reply all" unless you really think everyone on the list needs to receive the email. Also be careful about "reply all" errors, including people on your reply it may not be wise to include.
4. Avoid cultural differences and mistakes
Know that in our global economy and ever shrinking world that people from different cultures communicate differently. Miscommunication often occurs due to cultural differences, especially when writing. In person I communicate using body language and my eyes, on the phone I can use tone to convey my message, but in email all I am left with is the written word. Keep in mind your receiver’s cultural background and how well you know them.
Some cultures like to get to know whom they are doing business with and may send more conversational or personal emails, these include the Chinese, Indian and Arab cultures. On the other hand, some cultures want to get to the point quickly; these include Germans, Scandinavians and Americans. Keep these social differences in mind.
5. !!! lol 🙂
If you choose to use an exclamation point, use only one to convey excitement and leave ‘lols’ and smiley faces off business emails unless you are very comfortable with the receiver and even then, those should be kept for friends. People sometimes get carried away and put a number of exclamation points at the end of their sentences. The result can appear too emotional or immature. Exclamation points should be used sparingly in writing.
6. Be careful with humour
Know that humour often gets lost in translation without the right tone or facial expressions. In a professional exchange, it’s better to leave humour out of emails unless you know the recipient well. Also, something that you think is funny might not be funny to someone else. When in doubt, leave it out.
7. Reply to your emails
It’s difficult to reply to every email message ever sent to you, but you should try to. This includes when the email was accidentally sent to you, especially if the sender is expecting a reply. A reply isn’t necessary, but serves as good email etiquette, especially if this person works in the same company or industry as you.
Along with these email tips, always make sure to spell check and proofread your messages so that there aren’t any horrible mistakes that make you seem unprofessional.
Two last pieces of advice, remember capitals is SHOUTING and try to get in the habit of putting in the intended email address as the last part of sending an email, it is a sure fire way to make sure that the email doesn’t accidentally send before you’re ready.
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