Email Etiquette

1. Never send sensitive or protected documents, information, or images of them through email.
   Never send a W9, social security number, banking, or other personally identifying information or documents, no matter whos it is.


2. Read before sending and fix your mistakes.
   Every time you send a message with errors in spelling, punctuation, or grammar you are letting people know that you do not care about the quality of your work or the reputation of your organization.


3. Ignore the mistakes of others.
   It is petty to criticize mistakes such as incorrect spelling. It can cause an embarrassing situation and/or invite nasty reprisals. Fix the errors before replying or sending the e-mail on to others.


4. Do not email when angry or upset.
   Take a few minutes and breathe. Remember, perception is subjective. What you perceive may not be what the sender intended. Calm down before responding to a message that offends you.
   
   
   What you send cannot be taken back, so wait and then be polite. Avoid accusations and using abusive language. Words such as: please, sorry, and thank you project a positive and productive image.
   
   
   When reading another's email, it is always best to assume positive and/or best intentions. Many issues caused by emails are the result of a misunderstanding and seldom more than that.


5. Expect your message to go public.
   Private email is an oxymoron. It's like saying one is a little bit pregnant; it does not happen. Security administrators have access to it, and recipients might send it to others. Keep that in mind when you are writing. Pretend that every email is a memo that might be posted on a bulletin board in the hall of your organization.


6. Send request in time.
   When it is necessary to request help or support, or introduce a problem, do not wait until the last minute. Last minute messages frustrate and alienate people. Email can take minutes or hours to arrive, so plan ahead.


7. Respond immediately or make a note to respond soon.
   Respond to email as you should to phone messages. If you need time to think about your response or time to gather information, let the sender know that you will get back to them.


8. Be Brief.
   Emails have basically replaced memos and letters, but they are getting longer and longer. Use bullets where you can. Keep your message short and to the point. We receive many emails each day; we respond faster when messages are brief.


9. If the message must be long, start with requests and guide lines.
   We tend to read the first few lines of a message thoroughly and browse through the rest. If you require a quick response, say so in the first few lines. If your message is long, start with a summary paragraph.


10. Write a good subject line.
    Let the receiver know what to expect. A good subject line flags interest, and it makes it easier to find days later. The subject line is the true reason you are sending the email. It should be as short as possible, as to be viewed easily in the email client's preview window.
    
    
    Never put everything in the subject line and leave the email body empty.


11. Type like you would a letter.
    Emails can be difficult to read. Use short paragraphs and always put blank lines between paragraphs. Avoid all capital letters, emotional icons, unique abbreviations that could be misunderstood, and excessive punctuation.


12. Never reply all on mass email notices.
    Emails that are memos, bulletins, and other such informational notifications should never be responded to by clicking “Reply All”.
    
    
    These emails, depending on the size of your organization, could have been sent to hundreds or even thousands of people. Your responding to all will only clog up mail servers and agitate people you may not even know you. And this is also one way that many viruses get themselves spread.
    
    
    If you must reply to this kind of email, reply only to the sender.


13. Never assume the recipient knows what you are talking about.
    Always write your message as a stand-alone note. And when responding to a chain of emails reference any previous emails, conversations, statements, and/or information supplied earlier. Not doing this can frustrate and/or confuse any recipient and force them to consume a good deal of time to go back and reread to get a handle on the conversation and its context.

We should either make a phone call or visit in person when:

Emotions are high
The message is delicate
Too many misunderstanding are occurring

Email Attachments

Only put attachments on an email when they are required and always identify them in the body of the email.

Never send an email with an attachment and nothing in the body of the email and more importantly never open an attachment on such an email. This is how many, if not most, viruses get into computers and networks.

Key Considerations:

1. Human contact still matters.
   Don't communicate electronically at the expense of personal interaction. There's a reason people often need to discuss things face-to-face, and there are times when no substitute will do, whether you're breaking up with your significant other or asking your boss for a raise.


2. Watch what you say, and how you say it.
   While the computer brings people together, its impersonal nature can lead to remarks that people wouldn't think of saying in person. Do whatever it takes to stay courteous, even if that means taping a note to your computer reminding you to be decent and polite.


3. Be careful when clicking Send.
   Whatever you say in cyberspace cannot be taken back. You have no control over where your message goes once you've hit Send; it can be saved and forwarded by any recipient who chooses to do so, and words have come back to hurt people, destroy friendships, and ruin careers.

Email Do's and Don'ts

Addressing with care

Business Emails
The “To” field is for whom you are addressing and/or expecting action from. (These email address are seen by all)


The “Cc” field means “carbon copy” and is for those that need to know, need to be “Kept in the loop”, or may have unknown insight and may want to comment or take action as a result. However there is no expectation of action on their part. (These email address are seen by all)


The “Bcc” field means “blind carbon copy” and is the same as “Cc” above. However, these email address are not seen by other recipient nor are they copied on any responses. If you are blind copied on an email do not reply all to it, if the sender wanted everyone to know you were copied they would have put your address in the “Cc” field.


When responding, you can always add people to the "TO" and "CC" fields. But you should never remove someone from these fields unless it is a bulk or mass email notice sent to a large group of people, appropriate/required because of the content of the email, such as the email includes sensitive or protected information.


Personal Emails
Although business email rules still apply, infractions, minor or not, will not cause you the same heartaches or consequences. Just to be polite, when sending an email to a long list of recipients, that are not all in the same grouping like family or friends, don't put all the addresses in the To and cc lines. Most people don't want their email addresses displayed for all to see. It's better to send messages individually or use the blind-copy (BCC) feature and your email address in the To field, which allows you to show only your address.

What's your subject?

Fill in the subject line, even in personal email. The subject line should succinctly identify what you are writing about.

No yelling

Avoid typing your message in capital letters because CAPS ARE THE EQUIVALENT OF SHOUTING. Also beware of anger and frustration in the choice of words; the recipient will hear the anger and frustration in your writing.

Watch those symbols

email is singularly lacking in subtlety, and language that the sender may find funny or clever can easily be misunderstood by the recipient. If used, emotional symbols are better suited for casual messages between friends than for business emails. Likewise, be careful when using on-line abbreviations, since they'll leave some recipients scratching their heads.

Salutations and Closings

These are especially important in business emails, but should also carry over to personal emails as well. Always have an individualized salutation when it is practical. Emails to three or fewer people, state each person's name in a salutation, example: Dear, Tom, Mary, and Jim. When addressing a larger group, you can use a common salutation. In the case of an email reply, you must use a salutation in your first reply. After the first reply, it is no longer necessary to keep adding a salutation but it does not hurt either.

Among the best greetings to use for business/profesional emails are Hello [Name], Dear [Name], Dear Mr./Ms./Dr./Professor [Last name]. Never use Friend, Buddy, Hey, Yo, or Hi [Nickname], as these are far too informal. Using To Whom It May Concern, Dear Sir/Madam, Dear [Job title] is often considered too formal. And don't use Good morning/afternoon, because you just never know when the email will be read. Also using a wrong or misspelled name is one of the quickest ways to get off to a bad start. Always follow the greeting with a comma, never an exclamation mark.

Every email should have a closing and include a signature. Even set up your email program/client to put it in your email automatically. Your signature should always include all of your contact details as well as the name of your employer and your title when applicable. If your email program/client does not automatically sign your message off with your name, address, email address, and phone number, add it yourself. You don't want them having to scroll through a long email just to figure out who you are and/or how to contact you

Your signature should never be a picture or graphic, although it can contain both. Pictures, graphics, and images are often removed from emails on arrival by the email server, antivirus software, some email clients, and any number of other causes. The whole point of the signature is to clearly identify you and make it easy to contact/follow up with you. Any and all website paths, email addresses, and social media icons/tags should always be fully functional and clickable links. Pictures, graphics, and images should be limited to logos, award tags, certification badges, and the like. They should not be links and never an image of your real signature.

Check it over and then check it again

Be sure messages are clearly organized and grammatically correct. Write in complete sentences and always check spelling and punctuation, especially in business emails.

Fonts and backgrounds

Keep in mind that using anything but a basic font and/or too many font types can create a confusing visual layout, which is bad for all users, but may be especially difficult for users with reading disorders, learning disabilities, or attention deficit disorders. Font type, color, and size, especially when combined with any none white background are among the primary causes of misreading or the not reading of emails.

Whimsical and/or cartoon type fonts also tend to be hard to read for many and make people take the email less seriously. In most professional organizations such fonts are not permitted to be used at all.

For all government agencies, large companies, and really most any organization these days, the fonts, backgrounds, and colors used are very important to ensure compliance with the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and any number of organizations like the Office of Civil Rights (OCR). Remember, using the wrong font, background, and/or color for either could end up being very costly for any organization.

Marking email as READ

It is the defaul setting in Outlook and a number of other email clients to mark emails as read as soon as you move to another email. In general, this is a bad idea and can often cause things to be missed or forgotten. You should always set your email client to require that email be marked as read manually. This can prevent a number of issues and save you a good deal of problems.