Still facing the formidable challenge of successful email communication? Make sure that your clients and co-workers get the right message. To help you along the way, check out the guidelines below.

Maintain professionalism.

• Do you know the email that said Microsoft was going to give you $500 if you forward their email to 10 friends?? Well, (shockingly) it’s a hoax. Avoid the FWD fixation, and hit delete.
• Avoid acronyms. You won’t be lol when your important client has absolutely no idea what your email is saying. Acronyms are fine for your bff, but avoid them when at work.
• No emoticons. Again, they are fine for friends, but use sparingly when in the workplace.
• Avoid unnecessary punctuation!!!!

When not to email:

• Email is not always the most efficient mode of communication. Sometimes it is more productive to take the time to schedule a meeting when there are many complex details to discuss or many participants that need to give feedback.
• Avoid using email to criticize. Even if it’s constructive criticism, it can sound harsh and rude when conveyed through email. It will be much better received through face-to-face interaction or even via telephone.
• Avoid using email to complain. Email is not private. Do you really want your boss to know what you call him when you leave the office? Don’t send anything that you wouldn’t say to that person’s face.
• Don’t use email to discipline (or to fire). This is best accomplished during a face-to-face meeting where discussion can happen openly.

TO:, CC:, and BC:

• Only CC the people that need to know the information in the email. Everyone is busy. As a courtesy to your peers, avoid sending unnecessary emails that will only clutter their inbox.
• When sending a mass email to many unrelated people (i.e. Press releases, a birth announcement, an invitation to your yard sale, etc.), BC them. This way, the reader won’t see a long thread of addresses at the top of the email. This also protects those addresses from potentially getting in the hands of spammers.
• Avoid using BC for unethical reasons.

When forwarding:

• Delete any unnecessary or trivial text in the forwarded email. It helps to keep things easy to read for the recipient.
• If forwarding an email for someone else to respond to, tell the original sender so they know who to expect a response from.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 5th, 2007 at 10:56 am and is filed under General Communications. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.