Email Etiquette

I recently received a newsletter focusing on Email Etiquette at Work and wanted to share with you the key points. It is important to remember that email is often relied upon for legal matters, to demonstrate a promise made, or information that was misguided and because of that we need to always consider the following when sending and receiving email.

• Be mindful of what you write and the clarity of your message
• How the information could be relied upon later
• What the corporate image is of SanMar Canada
• How to avoid promises that may be too significant to meet
• When in doubt ask for input before pressing “send”

 

Additional things to consider when sending or replying to e mails are:

Talk In Person Instead
Email is great, especially to request or confirm information – however, a conversation is often faster and more easily understood. Conversations can inspire great ideas, it can enhance business relationships and help solve problems quickly. With email. It can become easy to avoid interactions, and may lead to the dreaded send-wait-reply, and send again. When possible talk in person or pick up the phone to finalize the matter.

Make Use of the Subject Line
A subject line is the first impression of an e mail. Make the most of it by summarizing the key point of your message. Use a reply date or time if the matter is urgent. Eg. “Response required to Proposal X buy noon tomorrow.”

Check the Recipient’s Name
Before you click ‘Send” double check the name of the person you are sending the email to. As a result of human error, many e mails end up going to an unintended recipient. Negative outcomes can include a breach of privacy, embarrassment, legal issues, hurt feelings and time wasted.

Be Careful Using ‘CC’
Today ‘CC’ stands for courtesy copy, which means you’re including someone on an email who needs or wishes to know about the content but is not expected to reply. Most readers view ‘CC’ as an ‘FYI’, not as an action item.

Be Extra Careful Using ‘BCC’
‘BCC’ is a blind copy. It is good to use when you need to email a large group or people, who may not want their email addresses divulged – it respects their privacy. But it can also be perceived negatively, as people want to know who else saw the message.

Check Your Tone, Twice
It’s surprising what other people read into meaning. The tone in your head when composing as email isn’t always the tone interpreted by the reader. Irony and sarcasm are often misunderstood in e mail, and humor doesn’t translate the same across all cultures, ages and business sectors. Think of the audience as you review your message.

Spell Check & Proofread
It’s important to remember that these two things aren’t the same. Spell check will catch obvious spelling mistakes such as Sincerly versus Sincerely, but it won’t catch common mistakes like their versus there. Take the extra moment to do both before sending.

Confirm Receipt
If you don’t receive a response, and your e mail is urgent, be sure it got there. Sometimes emails are sent but NOT received. If it’s important, check in to be sure the recipient has the e mail.

Avoid One Word Responses
Sending brief responses can appear nonchalant or imply that you’re not interested. ‘Sure’ or ‘ok’ may appear flippant. Acknowledge the sender’s message in some way when responding.

Deleted But Not Gone
Deleted emails are never really gone forever. They’re archived somewhere on a back-up server. This can be both beneficial if you need to retrieve an old email, and detrimental if you think you’ve gotten rid of a message that may raise future concerns.

Reply All
If someone sends a group message, think about your response before sending – is it intended for the whole group or just one person. If you are unsure, respond to the sender only and they can pass on the information if it would benefit the whole group.

 

Hopefully you have found this reminder useful, clear and open communication is key to our success both internally and also in ensuring we are every customers first choice in Canada.