Email is one of the most essential forms of online communications. In general, business professionals should maintain their polite behaviours when using email. Unfortunately, some professionals have slipped up, causing business deals to be cancelled and they could also get fired. Professionals who use email improperly could be seen as lacking business sense. In order to avoid problems, here are common email etiquette that we need to follow:
- Use proper subjects: The subject field is essentially the title of our email message. It is considered inappropriate to leave the field blank or type misspelled words. Subjects are the first things that people scan when they see their inbox. In this case, we should make sure that the subject clearly describes the content of the message and it should be kept simple. It is also important to use spammy words, because the spam filter could put our message into the trash box.
- Use BCC field: It is considered important email etiquette to keep the To and CC field short. In this case, we could avoid causing some very important individuals to feel that they are being put in the same place with lowly employees. The most relevant email address should be placed in the To field. Email addresses with lesser importance could be places in the CC field, but it should also be kept short. BCC field could be filled with email addresses that are not the actual recipients of the messages, but they should also know about the messages.
- Forward the email properly: Often we need to forward email messages and we should do this politely. In this case, we need to delete all the email address and names of people who previously received the email. It is also important to forward only the relevant portion of the message and remove any irrelevant replies from precious recipients. If we don’t do this, people who receive our forwarded messages will need to click through dozens of pages filled with replies. When forwarding email messages, we should also avoid sending spam to others, even if it sounds like a legitimate topic, such as reducing the release of greenhouse gasses and stopping the whales hunt. Many business professionals regularly forward email messages on various topics that they consider important, but they are essentially spam messages. It is considered an email etiquette to stop forwarding this kind of email messages.
- Don’t distribute chain letters: Chain letters have been transformed into digital messages since email technology was first available to the public. These chain letters could be based on threats, as an example, bad things could happen to recipients if they don’t spread the email to dozens of other people. Although they don’t believe this kind of messages, recipients could become terribly annoyed. If we continue sending these chain letters, our credibility in front of bosses, co-workers and customers could suffer. Even if we consider these emails as humorous, we should stop distributing them.