Writing Proper and Effective E-mails in the Workplace by Jessica Pfaff

E-mail is a quick and easy way to communicate in a professional environment. However, even though e-mail might not be the most proper and formal of documents it still needs proper revision. In order to maintain a certain level of professionalism when sending an e-mail we have to understand the rules of netiquette or Internet + etiquette.

Netiquette Rules:
- Use company e-mail only for appropriate business (do not send jokes, biased languages, or office gossip.)
- Respond to e-mails promptly by checking your e-mail several times a day.
- Send mass mailings with care.
- Ensure that the intended recipient and nobody else receives the message.
- Do not write in all-UPPERCASE or all-lowercase letters (can be considered lazy and could be hard to read.)
- Avoid abbreviations (FYI-for your information.)
- Do not use emoticons (keyboard characters, such as smiley faces:)
- Send an attachment only after checking that your recipient wants or needs the file and the recipient’s software can access it.

When composing an e-mail the overall design and layout should be taken into account. The dynamics of a computer screen and the limitations of some Internet service providers require certain formats for sending e-mails.

Tips for Design Consideration:
- Break the text into brief paragraphs.
- Avoid lengthy passages; they tend to make the reader lose interest more quickly.
- Put your response to someone else’s e-mail message at the beginning of the e-mail window.
- Always fill in subject line with a concise phrase that describes the topic of your message.
- Only include tables and bulleted lists in an attachment and not the actual e-mail message.

E-mail can also function as letters, memos, or personal notes; therefore, make sure your salutation applies to your intended audience and context. Apply the same form in your e-mail as your employer uses.

Tips on Salutations and Closings:
- When e-mail goes outside an organization to someone with whom you have not yet corresponded, use a standard letter salutation (Dear Ms. Smith) and an informal closing (Best Wishes.)
- When e-mail functions as a personal note to a friend, you can vary informal salutations (Hi, Hello) and closings (Take care, Cheers.)
- When e-mail functions as a memo, you may omit the salutation and closing because both your name and the name of the recipient appear in the “To” and “From” sections of the message.

E-mail is a great way to send information quickly, elicit discussions, collect opinions, and transmit documents and files of all types in the workplace. They are very useful when working with collaborative teams because they exchange ideas rapidly and can sound very conversational in tone. Even though e-mails may sound very informal compared to other forms of work discussions you always need to remember you are in a professional environment and your e-mails need to have a certain level of accuracy and appropriateness on the information they contain.

Work Cited:

Walter E. Oliu, Charles T. Brusaw, Gerald J. Alred. Writing That Works. Bedford/St. Martin's Boston, 2007.