These Email Etiquette Tips Will Add Professionalism to Your Mails
In this article we will take a look at some email etiquette tips that will help you in writing better emails, whether for work or for personal purposes.
With the evolution of World Wide Web, Internet has become one of the preferred modes of communication between people, and with every type of communication, there is a certain type of etiquette that is expected of people. This becomes all the more important in the business world as it can easily determine the kind of relationship that you will hold with your superiors and clients. One faux pas can easily put you in the spot and affect your reputation. Therefore, along with the social etiquette that is inculcated in us since our childhood days, we need to polish our skills a bit to be presentable with our emails. Mentioned below are some tips that you should keep in mind, unless you want your email to be circulated among your colleagues to keep them in good humor!
Email Etiquette : A Few Tips
While writing an email, use a proper opening. If the email is for a particular individual, you can write his name at the beginning of the email. If the email is addressed to the entire team, you can write the name of the team. While writing the closing, make sure that you are using words such as 'Best Regards', 'Thank You' etc. It helps in conveying that you are polite and well-mannered. Also, like everything else, emails have been put to a lot of abuse, like junk mails, spam and people more often than not check the subject to ascertain whether the mail is of any importance or not. So, do fill-in the subject of your email so that your mail is not being mistaken for junk or trash.
Use the email for discussing issues that ought to be discussed in public. Emails have an advantage (or rather a disadvantage?) that even if they are deleted, they can be recovered through various techniques. Also, if you take a look at your organization's policies carefully, you may come across a section claiming that 'your emails are not confidential and the organization reserves the right to check the contents, if deemed necessary'. So, before sending that 'naughty' email to your best pal in the office, remember, the big brother might be watching you!
Emails do allow you to fit in as many words as you can, but it doesn't mean that you write a whole encyclopedia of a subject. Try to keep your email as concise as possible but make sure that you include all the details in the email.
Attachments should be kept to a bare minimum as they may take time to download, and take up a lot of space of the recipient's inbox. Try using an alternate like a fax, or if it is really important that the attachment be included in the email, do warn the recipient beforehand so that your mail does not clog his inbox.
Text messaging has invaded our vocabulary, but it is advisable to restrict the jargon to the text messaging domain only. Using gr8 instead of great and tc instead of take care may mean that your email can be deemed as unprofessional.
I have been far too generous in using the exclamatory mark, but I advise you to avoid it as far as you can. What may seem funny to you may not be that funny for your boss and if he takes it in the wrong way, then you might be in for some fun!( look I used it again).
Last but not the least, if you are a business owner, do conduct a training session so that every member of your organization understands its importance. It will not only help in improving the skills of your organization, but also help present your organization in the right way. A poorly written mail can possibly put off a potential client, so ensure that you do get it dead right.
In today's world, where most of our communication with the outside world happens through emails, social networking sites, blogs etc. it becomes essential that we master the art of writing impeccable emails. When we communicate verbally with someone, our tone, body language, gestures can make it easy for the other person to interpret us, but in case of written communication, the language that you use determines the manner in which you will be interpreted. So, it becomes increasingly important that we get it right and follow the protocol to communicate effectively.
