Top 10 Do’s & Don’ts of Email Etiquette.
Some helpful advise for Corporate Email Users.
DO NOT’S
- Don’t write in CAPITALS or overdo punctuation such as exclamation marks or full stops. This is the on-line equivalent of shouting and is considered to be rude. If you must use capitals use it only to emphasise a particularly point of importance. Ask yourself, ‘if I was talking to the recipient face to face, would I be raising my voice to them?”’
- Don’t send or forward emails containing libelous (defamatory statements), offensive, discriminatory (racial, sexual, religious, ageist etc) or obscene remarks. As well as send or forward any illegal matter such adult material (child or violent erotica), illegal information (how to kill or injure people, incitement to violence, racial hatred etc). These likely to offend the recipient and people found engaging in illegal activities may be discipline or have legal action taken against them.
- Don’t forward chain letters and use jokes and informal idioms with great caution as this maybe deemed offensive and inappropriate.
- Don’t overuse the high priority option and ensure it’s the correct priority such as ‘high priority’ when it is really ‘normal’ priority. Avoid using URGENT and IMPORTANT.
- Don’t request delivery and read receipts and don’t ask to recall a message, this is unprofessional.
Don’t use ‘reply to all’ unless it is necessary. Think twice about sending a reply to everyone. Perhaps only selected people need to see this email. Also don’t automatically reply to just the sender others may need to be included- Don’t overuse abbreviations, emoticons and Acronyms and only use when the recipients is expected to know what they mean. Remember emoticons can be perceived as unprofessional and should not be used in corporate emails.
- Don’t leave out the message thread when replying to an e-mail; use the reply option on the sidebar in your email. This will keep the message in the “thread”, and make it easier for the recipient to follow. Don’t attach unnecessary files and don’t forget to attach necessary files when replying to all if relevant.
- Don’t use email to discuss confidential information, email is not confidential it is very easy for the contents of your email to be read by others without your knowledge. Emails can be subpoenaed in lawsuits.
- Don’t use e-mail as an excuse to avoid personal contact. Don’t use e-mail to avoid an uncomfortable situation or to cover up a mistake. E-mail communication isn’t appropriate when sending confusing or emotional messages, don’t “flame” people by sending them abusive email messages or conduct arguments in public, don’t make personal remarks about third parties.
References: http://www.emailreplies.com/ http://www.cit.gu.edu.au/~davidt/email_etiquette.htm http://www.dynamoo.com/technical/etiquette.htm http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA012054101033.aspx
Tags: Communication, Email