How to Use Proper Email Etiquette at Work

Email has brought about many positive advancements in the workplace–it's quicker than snail mail, less intrusive than a phone call and an efficient way to keep track of correspondence details. When used improperly, however, email can be an impediment to your career. Use some common sense to stay on the right side of email etiquette and maximize its potential as a helpful and efficient tool in the workplace.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Begin each email with a greeting. No matter how pressed for time you are, a simple greeting such as "Hi," "Hello," or "Dear X" is good etiquette. Otherwise, if you launch into your email without a greeting or introduction you run the risk of seeming impolite or impatient.

2. Take the time to ensure your subject line accurately reflects the contents and nature of your email. This will go a long way to ensure that your email gets the attention and consideration it deserves.

3. Be as concise as possible. Your recipients will appreciate it if you keep your email short, sweet and to the point, and you'll also increase your chance of getting a timely reply.

4. Ask permission before forwarding another person's email correspondence. Even if you're confident that the other person wouldn't mind if you forward their email to someone else, it's good etiquette to check first so you don't risk violating their trust.

5. Reply to emails in a timely fashion. If you know in advance that you can't give an email the attention it deserves at the moment, give the sender a quick heads-up that you have received their email but haven't had time to review it yet.

6. Send personal emails from your non-work account. Sending personal emails from work is generally "frowned upon" in business, but occasionally we all need to send a personal email during working hours. In this instance, use a web-based email account such as Yahoo or Hotmail.

7. Remember that your work email, both the address and all correspondence, is the property of the company you work for. Anything you've ever sent or received--even if you've deleted it--could potentially be retrieved from the system by a database administrator at any time.

Tips & Warnings

• Use the blind carbon copy (BCC) function when you send a bulk email. Some people consider having their email address exposed to a long list of strangers an invasion of privacy.
• Don't send chain mail, forwards, jokes or other unprofessional emails to your coworkers.
• Refrain from using animated emoticons, Internet jargon and other things better left for instant messaging.