How to Aquire proper e-mail etiquette

We are all guilty of inproper e-mailing. Why have e-mail etiquette? Many companies send email replies late or not at all, or send replies that do not actually answer the questions you asked. If your firm or organization is able to deal professionally with email, this will provide your company with respect and a competative edge. By educating employees as to what can and cannot be said in an email, you can protect your company from awkward liability issues.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Be concise and to the point. Noone wants to read a novel. people have better things to do and they are busy just as you are.
2. Never e-mail in CAPS.
3. Read your e-mail before you send it, you can never proof read enough.
4. Do not request delivery or read receipts. This will almost always annoy your recipient before he or she has even read your message. Besides, it usually does not work anyway since the recipient could have blocked that function, or his/her software might not support it, so what is the use of using it? If you want to know whether an email was received it is better to ask the recipient to let you know if it was received.
5. Use the subject line for a subject. Don't leave it blank, it's there to use for a reason.
6. Avoid long sentences. Email is meant to be a quick medium and requires a different kind of writing than letters. Also take care not to send emails that are too long. If a person receives an email that looks like a dissertation, chances are that they will not even attempt to read it!
7. Never reply to SPAM.
8. Do not over use high priority. Ask yourself, is it really high priority to let people know there are left over lunches in the conference room?
9. Do not forward chain letters.
10. Do not ask to recall a message. Chances are that your message has already been delivered and read. A recall request would look silly in that case wouldn't it? Better to look like you made a mistake and be honest than to recall a message.
11. Avoid using Urgent or Important.
12. Be sure to delete all personal e-mails and than delete again.
13. Never e-mail personal or private information in an e-mail
14. Use proper grammar and spelling. If your clients are receiving an e-mail from someone from your firm or organization who does not use proper grammar or punctuation, it reflects on your firm. You do not want to look like a simpleton do you? Improper grammar will give off a bad impression of your company .......bottom line.
    E-mails with no full stops or commas are difficult to read and can sometimes even change the meaning of the text. And, if your program has a spell checking option, why not use it? Don't you want to convey your message properly? Spelling, your computer has spell check, use it!
15. Answer promptly.
16. Usage of proper structure and layout is important. Remember that when you use formatting in your emails, the sender might not be able to view formatting, or might see different fonts than you had intended. When using colors, use a color that is easy to read on the background.