E-mail Etiquette

E-mail etiquette is a set of best practice rules when creating an email and choosing to follow it is good for a proper communication with the people we know.

Effective communication is largely tied to what is seen and heard. That is why with e-mail, you remove these abilities, which effectively removes 93% of your ability to communicate. Be aware of this when writing e-mails, because using subtleties will be lost or completely misunderstood.

E-mail is a critical communication tool in business and can easily and significantly strengthen or damage your reputation. Even if you write an e-mail to a friend, a well constructed message demonstrates your ability to articulate your thoughts and present data in a clear, tight and compelling way. Bottom line, you showcase your intellect and show respect to your reader.

Another aspect is the legal signification of e-mail; e-mails are electronic documents that can be used as proves in case of litigation. Although in Romania there are not legal punishments for example for somebody insulting another using e-mail, still you must take the time to properly review all electronic communication with which you engage. There are some simple rules to email etiquette you can follow in order to make sure your e-mails portray your desire image.

One very often misunderstood topic is the difference between To, Cc and Bcc fields:
1. Use the To: field to address those with whom you are directly communicating and actively participating in the discussion;
2. Use the Cc: field to those who may be interested in the conversation, but are not required to participate in the discussion;
3. Use the Bcc: field for those who should not see the addresses of the other contacts included in the e-mail.
Quite often the salespersons send the complete in-clear e-mail addresses of the ones they want to send the latest offer; what they do is that they populate Cc And To fields with more than 100 e-mail addresses believing they do it the right way. This is in fact a wrong and dangerous practice, since the list can be easily exploited when one of the recipients is infected with a worm or a virus. Furthermore, most of the recipients are not interested to know the other ones' e-mail addresses and the final result could be to not sell a thing.

Be careful with E-mail signatures. People sometimes include a catchy saying or quote in their signature, which can send the wrong signal depending on your audience. Stick to the basics with your name and fundamental contact information, simple is better and reflect a solid, professional image.

Other tips:
 1. Clearly define the purpose of your E-mail, including desired actions from the reader.
 2. Organize your message with an outline before writing and stick to the outline.
 3. Make your message simple, clear and appropriate to your audience.
 4. Have something meaningful to say.
 5. Be civil.
 6. Refrain from including personal information in your e-mail unless absolutely necessary.
 7. Use humor with care.
 8. Never write something in an e-mail that you wouldn't want to see used as evidence in court.
 9. Spelling and grammar count.
10. Consider alternate methods for file sharing.
11. Ensure names and e-mail addresses are correct before sending.
12. Beware the "Replay All" function.
13. Beware the "Forward" function.
14. Make use of "Out of Office" functionality present in most popular E-mail systems.

Source: www.helium.com article