Anatomy of a Perfect E-mail

We live in a world that is driven by technology; every day there are newer and faster tools. Today the world is a smaller village, a "global village," thanks to the revolutionary new tools of communication.



Perhaps the most ground-breaking tool to have come out in the last few decades is the World Wide Web and its by-product, the e-mail. The majority of businesses around the world have gone online, and executives and professionals voice their opinions and solve problems by shooting e-mails from one part of the world to another. If e-mailing has become such a major source of communication, why is it that professionals still are not sure what is right and wrong with an e-mail? Why is it that terms such as "netiquette" and "e-mail-etiquette" have been coined and are being widely debated across the power corridors?

Some people think that memorandums matter, but e-mails do not. In the business world, however, this is no longer the case. E-mail is not an "anything goes" chat line in which readers tolerate mangled sentence structure, fragmented thoughts, sloppy punctuation, and bad grammar.

In this lesson, we look at what makes a perfect e-mail and discuss the dos and don'ts of business e-mails.

For example, take the word itself. Is it e-mail or email? There are proponents of both spellings. Depending upon which dictionary you look the word up in, you will likely find either. Most often the dictionary cites it as being e-mail. Yet some dictionaries do write email. Either one is acceptable at this point, and depends upon your preference.

Why is e-mail etiquette important in a business environment?

• For increased professionalism : By being aware of the correct e-mail protocol, professionals can word their message better.


• For increased efficiency: E-mails that are concise yet complete in their information are faster and more effective.


• For protection from liability : E-mails are saved for posterity and can be called upon as references or evidence against any organization. If a company's employees are aware of the risk factors related to e-mails, they will be careful about making mistakes, which in turn may save the organization from legal hassles.

Complete Download on E-mail Etiquettes

E-mail content:

• Be concise. Brevity is the key to a good e-mail. The recipient likely is a busy professional. As such, you should respect the person's time commitments and make your e-mails crisp, concrete, and complete. Long e-mails can put off readers from reading the text.


• Do not lose conversation threads. E-mails are closer to conversations in the written form. If you are replying to someone's e-mail, you may want to use the same form.


• Always put your comments on top. When replying to an e-mail in which you want to include what the sender wrote, simply place your comments at the top of the mail and not at the end. This will keep your message from getting lost or the reader having to search around for the new message material.


• Do not send e-mails with blank subject lines. It is important to inform the reader what your e-mail is about. If the e-mail is not important enough for you to write a subject, why should it be important for the reader to go through it? Also e-mails without subjects can be blocked as spam or junk mail and never read. The subject line should be used as a tool to indicate what the message is about. Think of the subject line as being the same as the label on a file folder. It tells you what is inside. Properly labeled e-mails make it easier to categorize, file, and refer back to at a later time. For example:
  
  
  • Good use of the subject line: Meeting held 2/12/08.
  • Poor use of the subject line: hello.


• Send replies in the same format that you receive them. For example, if the sender used plain text, respond in plain text. Some e-mail packages do not support HTML and other formatting, and to the receiver your mail will look like gibberish. Avoid the urge to use the fancy wallpapers that are available on the Internet. They often are not professional, can lead the e-mail to be flagged as junk, and may distort the visual look of the document.


• Answer all questions you are asked. Many times people forget to answer all the questions addressed to them in an e-mail. This can turn out to be very frustrating both for the reader and you.


• Be careful of your spelling and punctuation. Bad spelling and punctuation mistakes reflect poorly on a professional's communication skills and also jeopardize the reputation of a company. Spelling and punctuation errors also can make a message difficult to read and understand, apart from completely altering the meaning behind the words.