How to Use E-mail Responsibly at Work

Your company was nice enough to give you an e-mail account; now repay the company by using your account properly. In the information age, e-mail business etiquette is becoming as important as many other forms of business etiquette.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Internet Access
• E-mail Accounts
• Computers

1. Familiarize yourself with your company's policy regarding the use of e-mail.

2. Ask co-workers and supervisors about any unwritten rules of etiquette that you should be aware of.

3. Keep work e-mail messages professional and work-related. Write work e-mail messages like you would any other memos.

4. Avoid forwarding jokes, advertisements, virus warnings, e-mail tracking messages and other junk mail to your co-workers. If any viruses are dangerous enough to pose a threat to your company's network, chances are the administrators will know about it before you do.

5. Avoid being cute or funny in your work e-mail messages, because this can backfire.

6. Think about who needs to see your messages. Do you need to send an announcement about your upcoming vacation to the whole company, or just a few people?

7. Watch your recipient addresses, particularly if you work at a large company. There may be multiple Melissas, for example. Don't send a message to Melissa@mycompany when you really should be sending it to Melissa2 or M.Carter.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have a personal e-mail message to send to someone, send it to that person's personal e-mail address rather than the company account. Most people like to restrict their work e-mail use to work-related matters.

[vossie]

on 3/11/2009 Thank you for the useful information. How do I re-direct personal emails when they arrive in my work emails?How do I store emails that bear work related general information only?

on 11/22/2005 When replying to forwarded e-mails make sure you are responding to the person who sent the forwarded e-mail, not the original e-mail, unless you want to respond to the person who sent the original e-mail.

on 11/22/2005 Avoid sending out e-mail forwards that compare women to drunk men. You might damage your "macho dude" reputation with your female co-workers.