Email Etiquette

DURGESH TIWARI

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 AIM
• To help you to
– Understand the importance of Email etiquette.
– Email Structure
– Learn the rules of effective Email writing.
– The Do’s and Don’ts of Email writing.
– Build awareness about Email risks and liabilities.

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 Email Rules –Why?
• Companies need to implement Email
rules because:
– Proper Email language conveys a
professional image
– Efficient emails convey messages clearly
without ambiguity
– Employee awareness about Email risks
protects against company lawsuits
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Considerations for email regulations
• Commercial considerations
• productivity considerations
• Legal considerations

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 Email Structure
 Greeting/Salutation
 Header
 Body/Message/content
 Footer/additional information
 Closing Salutation
 Signature

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 Salutation
• Salutation is how you address or wish the person you
are writing to.
 Dear Sir/Madam – Used when writing to total strangers.
 Dear Mr/Ms/Dr/Professor + Surname – Used when the
relationship with the addressee is formal and you don’t
know him/her personally.
E.g. Dear Mr. Khan
 Dear + first name- When you know the addressee
personally and share a semi formal/ informal relationship.
E.g. Dear Varun
 Don’t use “Dear” for Americans. They start emails
without a formal greeting. You may start with “Hello” or
“Hi”.

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 Header
 Headers help to “break the ice”.
 Makes the addressee feel important.
 Some examples of headers :
 Thanks for writing.
 Greetings from Swiftbrains
 Thank you for choosing our company/services
 and so on
Headers should be short and separated from the
body with a single line.

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 Body of the message
 The main message of an Email may be
 A status report
 An answer to a query
 Introduction to a service/product
 Official communications
 Informal messages

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 Form of the message
 The body of the message may be in the form
of a paragraph or a bulleted listing.
 Paragraphs are used when a single query is
answered or a single message is conveyed.
 Bullets are used for multiple pieces of information
conveyed in a sequential manner. Bullets look
formal and organized and are used only in formal
mails.

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 Composing the message
 Include an appropriate subject line to clarify what the message
is about.
 Use standard spellings, punctuation and language.
 Avoid using abbreviations.
 Write short, clear paragraphs.
 Come directly to the point.
 Have a friendly and cordial tone.
 Avoid sarcasm or humor. Use humor appropriately.
 Never write messages in Capital letters. It is equivalent to
screaming while we speak.
 The preferred font is Courier and not Ariel.
 Answer multiple queries in a sequential manner.

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 Footer/additional information
 Footers are used to provide additional
information or services.
 Welcomes further queries.
 Is aimed at inviting further communication
from the addressee.
 May include links to websites.
 Footers must not be longer than a paragraph.

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 Sample footers
 We hope to hear from you again/soon.
 Hope this information is helpful. For further
questions, please call 1111-1111-1111 or visit
our website www.xyz.com

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 Closing/ Salutation
 Conveys a thank you.
 Closing can be informal for an informal
message.
 Avoid “ best regards” or “warm regards” with
Americans. Doesn’t mean anything to them.
You may use “Thanks again”
 Do not write “ Thanks and regards”. Use either
thanks or regards.

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 Signature
 Indicates the end of the email.
 May have your name, department.
 May have the punch line of your organization
or team.
 Personalized Signature: Has your name
 Generic Signature: Has your
designation/group etc.

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 Your Email id
 Your email id determines, in a way, how you
are perceived. So, Choose your id wisely.
 Select a name which looks professional. It
should contain letters only from your first name
and last name. And it may contain few numbers.
E.g. Ashishk or ashish_k16 etc
 Never use frivolous names like Cool_ Ashish
for business email ids.

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 Filling - to, Cc and Bcc
fields
• Use the “To” field for the main person/s to whom the
mail is addressed. He/she is the person who is
supposed to take action.
• Make sure to click the “ To” button only after you are
sure that the mail you have written is satisfactory.
• The Cc is used for people who should be informed of
the mail or those being addressed indirectly. Make
sure the people copied know why they have been sent
the email.

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 Bcc
 The addresses in the 'Bcc' are like 'Cc' except
that the addresses in 'To' and 'Cc' do not know
that the addresses in the 'Bcc' are included in
the conversation.
 Using the Bcc may be a little unethical and
used very carefully or completely avoided.

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 Reply to all
 This little button generates huge numbers of
unnecessary mails.
If you send a mail to 10 people asking for their
availability for a purpose, you must receive only
10 mails, but if each of them presses the “reply to
all” button, there will be 100 mails in all!

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
Attachments
Avoid sending large attachments, as they take too much time
to open or may bring down the client’s system.
 Always ask the recipient before you send large attachments.
 Always compress large documents.
 Always check for viruses.
 Do not send attachments more than 5 MB.
Limit for dial up- 1MB
Broadband-5MB
 It is better to distribute multiple attachments over several
emails to avoid clogging.
 Ensure that the recipient has compatible software before
sending an attachment.
 Never send business attachments beyond business hours.

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 Do’s and Don’ts
1. Keep it concise and short- Reading on the computer is
more strenuous than reading printed communication.
2. Answer all questions and preempt further questions.
3. Keep emails personal. Use templates only for
frequently asked queries with standard responses.
4. Make sure to reply to mails within 24 hours. If more
time is needed for a response, send an email saying
you’ll get back.
5. Do not leave the message thread- retain the original
email in the thread.

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 Do’s and Don’ts
6. Read the message before you send it. Check
for spellings and other errors.
7. Do not use emoticons and abbreviations
(like btw, lol) in Formal or business mails.
8. If using colour, Use those which are easily
visible.
9. Do not forward chain messages.
10. Do not request delivery and read messages-
These are very annoying.

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 Do’s and Don’ts
11. Emails are like postcards. Do not use emails for
exchanging confidential information.
12. Use active voice instead of passive voice. –Active voice
is more personal. Passive voice is unnecessarily formal.
E.g. We will send the consignment today…. Active
Your consignment will be sent today…. Passive.
13. Try to keep your sentences to a maximum of 15-20
words. Long sentences are annoying.
14. Keep your language gender neutral. – Use he/she or the
user, sender etc.
15. Do not reply to spam- Doing so actually confirms that
your email is active and will generate more spam.

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 Do’s and Don’ts
16. Never use an old email reply or start writing about
an entirely new topic.
17. Never use your official mail to send personal
messages.
18. Never write emails when you are angry or
emotionally upset. Take your time and then
respond.

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 Flaming
 Email flaming is one of the negative aspects of email
communication.
 As per Wikipedia- “Flaming is the act of sending or
posting messages that are deliberately hostile and
insulting.”
 Such messages generate a chain of hate mail or nasty
messages.
 You get flamed when
o You break the rules of a discussion board or haven’t read
messages properly.
o Someone is just plain nasty for no particular reason.
o There’s some misunderstanding about something you have
written.

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 Avoiding flaming
 If you have been flamed and you have either hurt
someone or broken some rules, just apologize and
close the matter.
 Respond calmly and professionally to adverse
opinions objectively.
 If criticism is unwarranted or baseless-IGNORE!
 You can report any threatening or abusive email to
abuse@theirISP.com (i.e. ram@aol.com =
abuse@aol.com).
 The email address "abuse@" is generally the address
used by ISPs to send threatening or offensive emails..

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 Protection from lawsuits and
libel
 Add disclaimers to your internal and external emails.- These
help to protect your company from liability.
 Avoid making any libelous, sexist or racially discriminating
comments in emails, even if they are meant to be a joke. These
could end you or your company in trouble.
 Companies must have email policies-Should include all the
do's and don'ts concerning the use of the company's email
system.
 The policy should be distributed amongst all employees.
Secondly, employees must be trained to fully understand the
importance of email etiquette.
 Implementation of email rules can be ensured and monitored
using email management software.

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 In Conclusion
• 'By requiring employees to use
appropriate, businesslike language in all
electronic communications, employers can
limit their liability risks and improve the
overall effectiveness of the organization's
e-mail and Internet copy in the process'
- Excerpt from “ Writing effective Email”
by Nancy Flynn and Tom Flynn.
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