Email etiquettes…

Communication makes or breaks relationships and can clear up or cause a lot of misunderstandings. Verbal communiqués involve gestures and expressions, so body language ends up conveying the meaning but written communication has none of the body language gestures to fall back on. What is written is what gets communicated. The way of writing, the formation of a sentence, the salutation, the message body, the signing off, all combined constitutes the message. Care needs to be taken to ensure that what gets understood is what was intended.

Usually personal communication has emotions involved so a little bit here and there, a few twists and turns in the messge not only gets ignored but is taken in a stride. However, official communication is bereft of all this, so it is imperative that the official communication is clear, to the point, accurate and with the right tonal quality to ensure that the desired message reaches the recipient.

What I have witnessed during the course of my career is that email communication is what we spend our maximum time on and that this is the communication where most of us usually falter. So let’s discuss some ground rules to be followed for each important constituent of the message:

• “TO” (the addressee):

Address to only those whom you want a response from. In case of saving an address ensure  that the name is stored formally as in Manish Sharma as against manishebay or ebayman…..

• CC (copy to):

Mark it only for those who want to know about the contents of the email. Overuse can cause your emails to be  ignored. Only people who are of the same department should be marked unless the mail requires a cross functional involvement. Excesses maybe considered as spamming

• BCC (Back copy to):

When e-mailing a group of contacts who do not personally know each other, avoid display of email addresses. Be discreet and avoid if possible such mass mailings. If you have to, then introduce the disparate group to each other before launching onto the work at hand.

• Subject:

This is important and sets the context of the mail, never leave it blank. It should be clear and precise. Modify the subject if the conversation changes a tangent.

• Attachments:

Avoid sending large attachments. Avoid multiple attachments. Compress all attachments. Avoid sending attachments post office hours. Confirm on availability of the software in which the attachment would be viewed before sending it. Seek permission/clarification in case of business related  attachments.

• Mail Body:

Always be formal and start with a greeting. Be short and to the point. Follow the principle of planning, organizing, dividing and assessing. Avoid using upper case, or all small case letters. Avoid fancy formatting and multiple fonts. Do a Spell Check. Don’t underline or bold content till absolutely necessary and most importantly, please avoid emotional outbursts.

• Closure and sign offs:

Always close with Thanks. Always mention your credentials. Keep signature files to no more than 5-6 lines to avoid being viewed as egocentric. Limit signature to —Name, Web site link, company name, and slogan/offer or phone number. Precede url’s with “http://”

Follow these basic rules and your email communication would be more effective, clear and accurate.

Lastly, how about witnessing a few blunders that people have made while sending emails… I have culled these from various sites and ofcourse have dipped into my own experience pool.

• Starting an email with Mr/Ms. It should be Mr A and Ms B.
• Spelling mistakes.
• Using UPPER CASE or small case fonts or writing cryptic sentences.
• Using fancy and multiple fonts.
• Using “Red” as a colour in the mail body.
• Forwarding emails with lengthy trail mails and multiple ids.
• Using words like “Please revert back”
• Using phrases like “’As per your mail’ because ‘per’ is used only with units like per Kg etc. Instead we should write ‘According to your mail’.
• ‘Please find the attached file’ because the reader does not have to find or search for the file in the mail it’s already there. So instead we should write ‘The file has been attached for your reference’
• If any email states that it should be forwarded to all your friends, or to 5/10/15…. people — do everyone a favor and just hit delete!
• Forgetting to add the attachment.
• Being emotionally charged in the emails.
• Add the recipients address only after writing the entire email.
• Hitting the “Reply to all” button in a personal communiqué.
• Creating an email address- babyboo@yahoo.com and circulating it to colleagues.
• Missing CTA (call to action).
• Replying to a message without checking the auto-spell corrections/options.
• Avoiding or forgetting punctuations……..

image rights: Freepik.com

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