Emails have many advantages. For one thing, they offer speed in message transmission, and another, they allow multiple recipients as needed. Whether it is used privately or in business to business communication, it is important that email etiquette is taken seriously in terms of rules pertaining to courtesy. The key is emailing considerate messages.
Businesses that adhere to strict professional decorum insist in training staff with best practices for email management as a part of new staff orientation program. This is especially important in recent years as internal email has largely taken over the internal written memo.
What are these email proven etiquettes, these underlying rules for considerate and courteous messages?
Many of them are already familiar to many of us but worth mentioning. It may not be exhaustive, the list includes the following:
Respond promptly and if at all possible, within the same working day. If it is not possible to do it, acknowledge the recipient with a brief email saying you’ll get back to them soon.
Focus email message to one topic and to the point. There’s nothing distracting than long-winded paragraphs. A clear concise subject is more meaningful and easily understood.
Use the rules of good letter writing with correct grammar, punctuation and spelling. There’s nothing like a structured and grammatically correct well-written letter. Certainly, leave out those spelling shortcuts used in mobile text messages. This leaves a bad business impression.
Retain the original email message thread. In replying to an email, it is courtesy to include the original text. It saves the recipient time in searching their in-boxes for related emails simply to follow through with you.
Don’t write words in capital letters. This is apparently annoying, and something that can trigger an unwanted or no-response email, to your detriment.
Be careful with your abbreviations, emoticons and use of mobile messages shortcuts. In business emails, abbreviations such as BTW (by the way) and emoticons like the smiley symbol ;) should not be used as a matter of propriety.
Review your email before sending It. Reading and reviewing your email helps create a more effective message. Most likely you'll find things that need fine-tuning. A review also avoids misunderstandings and unnecessary comments.
It’s worth adding that there are occasions when an e-mail is unsuitable as a business communication, including those of confidential and legally binding documents. Be aware of this.
With the advent of the internet and related technologies, face-to-face encounters have been diminished. Email as a communication tool has taken over, along with other technological advances but it should not be abused. It is therefore necessary to master email etiquette as a skill to be an effective player in the playing field of business communications.
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