Email Etiquette
Be consistent
Despite the increase in mobile email devices not everyone is connected all of the time however, failure to respond to an email is often quoted as one of the greatest annoyances of the digital age, and will often lead to people fearing they are being ignored.
The key is to manage expectations and be consistent – try and establish a pattern so people are not perturbed when you are not at your desk, or sat with your iphone in hand. Rather than keeping your email client open 24/7 why not try opening it on the hour or every couple of hours and then respond to email.
Don’t forget the beauty of email is its speed – waiting longer than a day for a reply is really unacceptable. If you are unable to answer in detail straight away consider dropping a brief reply explaining this and promising further details later
Be polite and friendly
Unless you are in the military it is unlikely that a simple list of instructions with neither an introduction or sign off will go down well. By remembering to introduce the email with a personal salutation, for example Hi Richard, and then signing off with at least a simple ‘regards’.
*NEVER ever USE CAPITALS. CAPITALS = SHOUTING – so don’t do it. *
In day to day life we all realise that dropping please and thank you into our conversations often generates a better response than simple instructions, the same applies in written communications. Instead of the standard (and formal) ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ don’t be afraid to try a more relaxed alternative..
Use a descriptive subject
The subject box is there for a reason – use it, don’t leave it blank. People often use the subject line to prioritise what needs looking at first but don’t try and and artificially inflate the importance by using URGENT: or similar in the subject line.
Avoid getting carried away with formatting
It’s easy to get caught in the trap of using different fonts, different colours at even emoticons in your communications but remember the following:
- these often limit readability
- mobile devices will often struggle to display them well
- when quoting an email in a reply they can cause problems
- just because some email clients support them doesn’t mean others do, such as Apple Mail, Thunderbird
- Read and spell check your email before sending
With any written work it’s imperative to proof read it and none more so than an email: not only for grammar and spelling but it is a good idea to check the context and tone to ensure it conveys exactly the message you want it to.
Please, I beg you, don’t forward chain emails
It may seem harmless but they are actually used by spammers to harvest email addresses – so just don’t do it.
Written by Ryan Townsend @ Agincourt Web Design
0845 481 09 09
Grantham Business Club