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Special Rules, Tips, and Guidelines for Writing Business E-Mails
E-mail has revolutionized daily communications. Ninety-one percent of U.S. Internet users have gone online and used e-mail, with 56 percent doing so as part of their daily routine, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project in 2007. According to some estimates, working Americans typically spend about two hours per day managing their business e-mail. The number of business e-mail users totaled 780 million in 2007, according to Ferris Research, and 3.4 billion business e-mails are sent in North America on an average day, reported IDC, a technology research firm. With e-mail entrenched in daily life and dominating the way businesspeople communicate, we thought a chapter devoted to its do’s and don’ts could help guide you in using this technology more effectively on a daily basis.
Three basic rules of business e-mail etiquette
Because e-mail is continually evolving as a communication tool, it can be difficult to navigate its ambiguous rules of conduct. To help you with this task, we’ve distilled the fundamentals of business e-mail etiquette down to three simple rules: Keep it simple. Keep it clean. Keep it professional.
1. Keep it simple
Simplicity is the key to composing effective e-mails, because e-mail is meant to be quick and direct. A properly written business e-mail has the following characteristics:
Simplicity of language. Following the “Be simple” rule of business writing that we discussed in “12 general tips for better business writing” in the Introduction of this book is critical when it comes to e-mail. That’s because e-mail style exudes speed and brevity. You can dispense with the formality and hackneyed phrases that have plagued so much business correspondence in the past (“enclosed please find,” “as per your request,” and “please be informed,” for example). Instead of “as per your request,” just send the document as an attached file with a cover e-mail that says, “Here is the PowerPoint presentation you asked me to send.” People have so many other e-mails to read that succinctness and clarity are essential. Don’t waste your readers’ time by sending an e-mail that requires them to follow up to clarify what you meant.
Don’t write a book. Keep your e-mails brief. Limit them to one to three short paragraphs; if you need to write more, don’t go beyond the equivalent of one printed page. Anything longer will need some other forum, such as a printed letter or a meeting, to resolve your issue. Similarly, if there is lengthy explanatory or supporting material, consider sending it along with your e-mail as an attached file. This makes it easier for the recipient to download and file the information onto his or her own hard drive.
Simplicity of subject. E-mail was designed for the speedy transfer of files and messages from computer to computer over a network—regardless of where these computers are located or whether they’re all online at the same time. Because recipients may retrieve their messages at different times, problems arise when groups of people, particularly in the workplace, attempt to use e-mail to reach a consensus on an issue or to engage in a lengthy “conversation.” Such e-mail exchanges easily get out of synch, with some individuals replying to older e-mails in the e-mail string. This leads to confusion, which further lengthens the discussion and clogs up participants’ inboxes with additional e-mails. Inevitably, a phone call or a meeting is needed to settle things.
So, restrict your e-mail messages to one topic per message, and don’t use them for conversations or for consensus-seeking (save these for meetings, phone calls, or instant messages). An easy-to-remember guideline: Use e-mail to send simple messages that are “actionable”—messages that solicit a specific, uncomplicated response or action.
Unfortunately, it is easy to get entangled in interoffice e-mail exchanges that are not actionable. Here’s a brief list of the most common kinds of non actionable business e-mails that you should avoid:
E-mails whose purpose is to prove that you’re right about something (for example, e-mailing a history of previous e-mails to prove you already sent your recipient his or her copy of your quarterly report).
E-mails that serve as a delaying tactic (for example, e-mailing questions whose answers affect your ability to complete a project just before that project is due).
Gratuitous replies to e-mails that have already ended the discussion (for example, someone has written, “Thank you” or “Perfect,” and you respond “Oh, it’s no problem” or “You can count on me!”).
Unsolicited advertisements and promotions; these are considered spam and will likely be blocked and reported to an e-mail administrator, with possible legal implications for you.
E-mails composed “under the influence”-of anger, disappointment, boredom, confusion, guilt, gossip, insomnia, insecurity, and so on.
E-mails whose purpose is to prove that you’re right about something (for example, e-mailing a history of previous e-mails to prove you already sent your recipient his or her copy of your quarterly report).E-mails that serve as a delaying tactic (for example, e-mailing questions whose answers affect your ability to complete a project just before that project is due).Gratuitous replies to e-mails that have already ended the discussion (for example, someone has written, “Thank you” or “Perfect,” and you respond “Oh, it’s no problem” or “You can count on me!”).Unsolicited advertisements and promotions; these are considered spam and will likely be blocked and reported to an e-mail administrator, with possible legal implications for you.E-mails composed “under the influence”-of anger, disappointment, boredom, confusion, guilt, gossip, insomnia, insecurity, and so on.If you are angry or upset about a costly mistake that someone in your department made, wait until your feelings cool before sending an e-mail about the matter. Although it may be tempting to fire off an e-mail to avoid the discomfort of an actual confrontation, resist the urge. If you don’t, you may regret what you say, and the object of your disdain will likely respond just as vehemently. A heated e-mail conversation you never intended to have may ensue (and could go on indefinitely, taking you away from important tasks that you need to complete).
Similarly, e-mailing when you’re confused about an e-mail you were sent will inevitably cause your inbox to fill up with replies you still don’t understand. If you need clarification on a confusing e-mail, call the sender.
E-mailing to apologize or admit guilt can be risky. For example, there could be serious repercussions if you use e-mail to admit a company error to a client without consulting with your superiors first.
Avoid e-mail for dishing the latest office gossip. What you say becomes a permanent record that may come back to haunt you.
E-mailing in the dead of night about a work issue that is keeping you awake is also a bad idea. Give yourself a chance to “sleep on it” and see if you still feel the same way about the issue the next day.
Finally, e-mail is not the forum for seeking reassurance on a work-related action you feel insecure about; your recipient will likely consider your e-mail a waste of his or her valuable time, as well as your own.
Finally, there is one last tip for “keeping it simple”: Set aside a half-hour or an hour each day when you do not log into your e-mail account but simply focus on getting your work completed. This will help make you more productive and protect you from e-mail “information overload.”
2. Keep it clean
Keeping your business e-mails “clean” doesn’t just mean avoiding profanities or offensive statements—that goes without saying. It refers to the way your e-mail messages are presented. “E-mail especially, with its convenience and lightning-fast speed, has introduced new sloppiness into business communication,” says Dr. Lester Hoff, a communications consultant based in New York City. He notes that the majority of interoffice e-mail, for example, is not proofread in hard copy (because the messages are never printed out by the writer) or even with a spell-checker on the screen. The result: ineffective, error-plagued communication.
Certainly, e-mail has a reputation for informal language, lax grammar, cryptic acronyms, emoticons, chain letters, trifling forwards, offensive jokes, spam, and spreading computer viruses. But that doesn’t mean you should allow the quality of your own business e-mails to suffer. Grammatical errors, unintelligible content, misspellings, and typos in your e-mails will turn off your associates, managers, and clients alike. Carefully proofread your e-mails before you send them. Errors are no more acceptable in e-mails than in printed documents.
Take your time composing your e-mails. You might try having another person in your company read and give you feedback on your most important e-mails (for example, e-mails intended for clients or potential clients) before you send them.
Check your spelling carefully, with special attention to the spelling of recipients’ names. Don’t leave everything up to your spell-checker, though. Be careful about automatically accepting its suggestions for proper nouns and personal names. We once knew a colleague who, because of overdependence on his spell-checker, sent a message addressed to a Dr. Fishbone (whose name was really Dr. Fishbane).
Closely examine your punctuation, formatting, and capitalization as well. Stay clear of the kinds of overpunctuation, excessive type-styling, and formatting that are misguidedly used to express emotion in e-mail. Examples:
Emoticons: These should be avoided for the reasons explained in “How to determine the best medium for your message” in the Introduction.
Ellipses: These are intended to signify that words have been omitted from a direct quotation—not that one’s thoughts have trailed off or that a pause has occurred. (There really is no place for a pause in an e-mail. Pauses are for conversations.)
All capital letters: Words and phrases typed in all capital letters are not only difficult to read, they are perceived as YELLING. To stress a word, boldface or italicize it.
Overuse of exclamation points and question marks: Avoid concluding too many sentences with exclamation points or using a series of exclamation points and/or question marks in a row. These impart a sense of desperation, instability, or bossiness.
E-mail/text message acronyms and lingo: These will make your e-mail message seem too casual or unprofessional, plus confuse readers who are unfamiliar with them. In fact, the time you save by typing in an acronym will be more than compensated by the time it takes your recipient to figure out what you meant.
Fanciful formatting, graphics, backgrounds, icons, logos, clip art, and so forth: As mentioned previously, because of differences in hardware, software, and filter settings, what you see on your screen may not be the same as what your recipient sees. So, jazzing up your e-mail with such features may be a waste of time. Your e-mail might even get dumped into your recipient’s junk or spam folder because of its unrecognizable attachments.
Emoticons: These should be avoided for the reasons explained in “How to determine the best medium for your message” in the Introduction.Ellipses: These are intended to signify that words have been omitted from a direct quotation—not that one’s thoughts have trailed off or that a pause has occurred. (There really is no place for a pause in an e-mail. Pauses are for conversations.)All capital letters: Words and phrases typed in all capital letters are not only difficult to read, they are perceived as YELLING. To stress a word, boldface or italicize it.Overuse of exclamation points and question marks: Avoid concluding too many sentences with exclamation points or using a series of exclamation points and/or question marks in a row. These impart a sense of desperation, instability, or bossiness.E-mail/text message acronyms and lingo: These will make your e-mail message seem too casual or unprofessional, plus confuse readers who are unfamiliar with them. In fact, the time you save by typing in an acronym will be more than compensated by the time it takes your recipient to figure out what you meant.Although the acronyms are not recommended for business e-mail messages, you will encounter them frequently, warranting that you know what they mean. Here are a few of the more popular acronyms and their meanings:
| Acronyms | Meaning |
|---|---|
| b/c | Because |
| BRB | Be right back |
| BTW | By the way |
| COB | Close ofbusiness |
| CLTLBR See | you later |
| ETA | Estimated time of arrival |
| <g> | Grin |
| GTG | Got to go |
| IMO | In my opinion |
| JIC | Justin case |
| LOL | Laugh out loud |
| NC | No comment |
| OIC Oh, | I see |
| OTOH | On the other hand |
| TTF’N | Ta ta for now |
| TTLTL | Talk to you later |
| w/ | With |
| w/o | Without |
| WTG | Way to go |
Fanciful formatting, graphics, backgrounds, icons, logos, clip art, and so forth: As mentioned previously, because of differences in hardware, software, and filter settings, what you see on your screen may not be the same as what your recipient sees. So, jazzing up your e-mail with such features may be a waste of time. Your e-mail might even get dumped into your recipient’s junk or spam folder because of its unrecognizable attachments.Composing e-mail messages in HTML can also be problematic if your reader’s e-mail program isn’t set up to view HTML messages. Many computer users don’t have the capability to read anything but plain text in ASCII format. Trying to add drawings, even ones made by ASCII characters that “should” be readable by everyone, isn’t worth the risk of sending illegible material.
You can also keep your business e-mails “clean” by being meticulous about the way you handle attachments. Before attaching files, confirm that the person you are corresponding with has the software to open them and that his or her e-mail server can handle their size. Instead of attaching large files to an e-mail, you could post the files on an FTP (file transfer protocol) site where they can be downloaded, or include a link to a Website where the information contained in the attachment can be displayed.
3. Keep it professional
This may sound like a vague piece of advice. But there are very specific ways you can ensure that your e-mail is professional and courteous:
Be careful about sending jokes or using humor. If the content of your e-mail or its attachments offend your reader (sexist comments and jokes, for example), you could be reprimanded, accused of workplace harassment, even sued. Your e-mail could also be forwarded to people with whom you would rather not have shared it. This can embarrass you or damage your reputation. Also, remember that employers routinely archive e-mail and monitor their e-mail systems.
Follow your company’s e-mail usage policy. Even if your organization has not issued a formal, written policy, observe any statements the management have made about properly using the company’s communications systems. Use your common sense.
As we stressed in the previous chapter, avoid sending personal e-mail using your business e-mail account. This includes forwarding jokes, reflections, chain letters, and the like.
Be complete. If you’re responding to an e-mail that posed questions or requested information, make sure you have provided all the details asked of you. If you’re using an e-mail to introduce your company’s products or services to a potential client, give him or her all the information needed to make a decision about what you’re offering.
Don’t be too informal. Although the tendency is to write less formally in e-mail than in an official letter or memo, if you are sending a message to a client, an associate, or your boss, be just as professional as you would in a typical memo or letter.
Be sure all the recipients who are relevant to your e-mail are included in the “To” and “CC” fields. Accidentally leaving someone out can become a politically sensitive sore spot. For example, if you are using e-mail to thank your team for their fine work on the last project, be sure to include all the team members, and carbon-copy the appropriate managers.
Verify the accuracy of any facts, claims, statistics, or information that you put into your message. This is particularly important if your e-mail introduces your product or services to a potential customer.
Finally, be genuine, and don’t make your messages to clients sound like advertisements. No one likes a cheesy sales pitch.
Be careful about sending jokes or using humor. If the content of your e-mail or its attachments offend your reader (sexist comments and jokes, for example), you could be reprimanded, accused of workplace harassment, even sued. Your e-mail could also be forwarded to people with whom you would rather not have shared it. This can embarrass you or damage your reputation. Also, remember that employers routinely archive e-mail and monitor their e-mail systems.Follow your company’s e-mail usage policy. Even if your organization has not issued a formal, written policy, observe any statements the management have made about properly using the company’s communications systems. Use your common sense.As we stressed in the previous chapter, avoid sending personal e-mail using your business e-mail account. This includes forwarding jokes, reflections, chain letters, and the like.Be complete. If you’re responding to an e-mail that posed questions or requested information, make sure you have provided all the details asked of you. If you’re using an e-mail to introduce your company’s products or services to a potential client, give him or her all the information needed to make a decision about what you’re offering.Don’t be too informal. Although the tendency is to write less formally in e-mail than in an official letter or memo, if you are sending a message to a client, an associate, or your boss, be just as professional as you would in a typical memo or letter.Be sure all the recipients who are relevant to your e-mail are included in the “To” and “CC” fields. Accidentally leaving someone out can become a politically sensitive sore spot. For example, if you are using e-mail to thank your team for their fine work on the last project, be sure to include all the team members, and carbon-copy the appropriate managers.Verify the accuracy of any facts, claims, statistics, or information that you put into your message. This is particularly important if your e-mail introduces your product or services to a potential customer.Finally, be genuine, and don’t make your messages to clients sound like advertisements. No one likes a cheesy sales pitch.Tips for avoiding common e-mail blunders
We’ve all heard stories about the regrettable consequences of workplace e-mail transgressions, such as sending a colleague disparaging remarks about a manager. Here are some ways to keep yourself out of e-mail trouble:
1. Use instant messaging, instead of e-mail, for brief online conversations with coworkers. That way, if you slip up and say something you shouldn’t have, there’s no permanent record. This will also keep your e-mail inbox from overflowing with insignificant little messages.
2. To avoid receiving personal e-mails in the workplace, make it a policy to not disclose your business e-mail address to friends and family. If it’s too late for that, at least let them know that if they want you to respond to personal e-mails, they should use your personal e-mail address. Ask them to delete your business e-mail address from their online address books.
3. Get into the habit of completing the “To” and “CC” fields of e-mail messages as the Zast step before sending a message. This prevents you from prematurely hitting the “Send” button before you’ve carefully proofed your message. You should complete your e-mail, proof read it, double-check any attachments, and only fill in the “To” and “CC” fields when you’re absolutely ready to hit “Send.”
If you’re responding to a message, clear the “To” and “CC” fields by hitting “Forward” instead of “Reply.” Then type your reply, carefully proof it, remove any unnecessary attachments automatically picked up by selecting “Forward,” and enter the e-mail addresses of your recipients last. If others are anxiously awaiting your reply, let them wait the few extra seconds or minutes it takes to ensure that you don’t send a message that is missing an attachment or key details, filled with errors, incomplete, or addressed to the wrong person.
4. If you find yourself typing an angry or emotionally charged e-mail, leave off the recipient’s address and save the message as a draft. Return to the message later and evaluate whether sending it still seems like a good idea.
5. Double-check files after attaching them. Open them up to make sure you have attached the correct version (or even the correct file). There’s nothing more embarrassing than having to resend an e-mail because you realized you attached the wrong file, omitted something, or forgot a correction.
Guidelines for crafting the most effective business e-mails
Now you know the basic do’s and don’ts of writing business e-mails. But how can you be sure your e-mail messages do more than just adhere to the rules of etiquette, but also make a real impact? Here are some guidelines for using e-mail more effectively:
Carefully choose the day and time you send your messages to customers or potential customers. For example, Monday morning is generally a time when people sift through all the e-mails that have piled up since the last Friday. Try to send your message when it isn’t competing with dozens of other messages for your recipient’s attention.
Don’t be slow in replying to e-mail. Check your mailbox at least daily (some people check hourly) to get your messages and ensure you can respond quickly. “The biggest appeal of e-mail is its immediacy,” says Marcia Layton, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Terrific Business Writing (Alpha Books). “People don’t like to wait days to hear back from you.”
Don’t use e-mail to avoid phone conversations. E-mail is convenient because it allows you to send people a message at your convenience and they can pick it up at their convenience. But if you never pick up the phone to speak directly to someone, you might give the message that you’re avoiding him or her. Personal contact from time to time is necessary to solidify business and personal relationships.
When reaching out to clients or potential clients via e-mail, don’t allow your messages to look like everyone else’s. Subscribe to your competitors’ e-mails to customers in order to analyze these messages and find ways to make yours stand out.
Don’t forget that e-mail is not always the appropriate communication tool. Before automatically sending an e-mail, ask yourself if what you’re sending would have more impact as a letter, a memo, or a mailing.
Look for the E-mail Empowerment Tips throughout the book. This special feature points out easy ways to use business e-mail more effectively.
Carefully choose the day and time you send your messages to customers or potential customers. For example, Monday morning is generally a time when people sift through all the e-mails that have piled up since the last Friday. Try to send your message when it isn’t competing with dozens of other messages for your recipient’s attention.Don’t be slow in replying to e-mail. Check your mailbox at least daily (some people check hourly) to get your messages and ensure you can respond quickly. “The biggest appeal of e-mail is its immediacy,” says Marcia Layton, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Terrific Business Writing (Alpha Books). “People don’t like to wait days to hear back from you.”Don’t use e-mail to avoid phone conversations. E-mail is convenient because it allows you to send people a message at your convenience and they can pick it up at their convenience. But if you never pick up the phone to speak directly to someone, you might give the message that you’re avoiding him or her. Personal contact from time to time is necessary to solidify business and personal relationships.When reaching out to clients or potential clients via e-mail, don’t allow your messages to look like everyone else’s. Subscribe to your competitors’ e-mails to customers in order to analyze these messages and find ways to make yours stand out.Don’t forget that e-mail is not always the appropriate communication tool. Before automatically sending an e-mail, ask yourself if what you’re sending would have more impact as a letter, a memo, or a mailing.Look for the E-mail Empowerment Tips throughout the book. This special feature points out easy ways to use business e-mail more effectively.Keep in mind that success in writing, no matter what form of communication you use, is largely a matter of attitude. If you don’t think writing is important enough to take the time to do it right and you don’t really care about improving, you probably won’t get better at it. But if you believe that writing is important and you want to improve, you will.
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