Email Etiquette

In an ever increasingly busy world, we often fail to take the time to actually read things in their entirety. I know that I am guilty of this. I often peruse through most things. Something I learned very well when taking a full load of college courses while working 40+ hours per week to pay for college. Perusing materials may work well if the writer was kind enough to use headings, subheadings and the occasional bolded comment. Some things are not perusable: the bible for instance, although in this case I am going to use business email as my example.

It seems that more and more often I am receiving emails that have been forwarded to me three or four different times from people who were either included in the original email or received it from someone else. More times than not, my email address is clearly shown as one of those who originally received the email. However, the forwarder is not taking the time to read the original list of email receivers before simply forwarding to everyone they think should know about the aforementioned email.

There are some important things that people need to learn or at the very least be reminded about when it comes to email:

• Very few people read forwarded emails. If the email is important enough that you want them to actually read it, take the time to remove the FW: from the email subject line and make sure you do not include those annoying forward options in your chosen email program (indentation of forwarded text, solid line down the forwarded text, "begin forwarded text" notification just above the forwarded text, etc.).
• Before you forward, check to see who originally received the email. If a persons name or email address is on the original email, do not forward to them.
• Blind Carbon Copy options hide who was originally included in the email. It is possible that others have received this email, so consider if it is really important enough to send.
• Cute, sappy, funny, tear-jerking, etc. stories are best shared with a few people at once...not your entire email contacts.
• If you forward a video or file, say something about it in the subject line or body of the email so that the receiver knows it is valid and not a virus. I never open attachments from email addresses I do not recognize and rarely from those I do recognize unless they clearly explain that they have attached a file for me to view and what the file concerns.
• Know your intended audience. Most people will not read long emails without a specific reason. When I need to send a long email, I preface it with the information that it is long, but very important. If at all possible, I will use bullet points for the major information and then share more detail later.
• Send only to those who need to read. I cannot tell you how many emails I receive that have nothing to do with me and no explanation as to why I received it. If you included somebody just so they would have background information about something for a later date, mention that in the email.
• It is virtually impossible to read tone in an email, but if you use ALL CAPS people will think you are YELLING! I will always assume that when I see ALL CAPS. Never use all caps. Use bold if you want them to pay attention to something. If you are mad enough to yell, don't use email. Pick up the phone and talk to the person. It is possible that you are confused about something or that they have information that could help diffuse your anger.