Compose a Communication Regarding the Proper Use of Email

Quisa Bethel-McMillan

Managerial Communications

2015OCT MAN-373-GS002

Writing Assignment 3

During our weekly manager’s meeting, we discussed the proper use of email for all staff members within our organization. Since email plays a huge role of the virtual world of communication, there seems to be a growing number of staff members that are sending emails that are poorly written, unprofessional or discourteous.

Here are some email etiquettes that needs to be implemented to better your use of the email within the workplace.

Clearly identify the subject matter of the email. The subject line of your e-mail is of utmost importance. What you write as the subject will determine whether the person reads, forwards, ignores, or deletes your e-mail message. Be specific enough to explain the main purpose of your message in the subject line. For example, don’t just write “Meeting,” but rather “Schedule Meeting to Discuss Upcoming Marketing Seminar.”

It is a good practice to always keep your emails clear, brief and straight to the point. Please try to avoid making your email longer than what they need to be. Since we are working in a limited time frame, keep in mind that reading an email is harder than reading printed documents. When the email is too long to read, it can be very discouraging to the recipient to perceive.

Always try and respond to your emails within 24 hours. People send emails because they expect a speedy response, otherwise they would call and leave a message. Email should be answered the same working day, if not within 24 hours because you don’t know how urgent the email is to the sender. If the email is too complicated to understand, please be sure to respond to the person, letting them know that you received their email and you will get back to them at your earliest convenience. This will let the sender know that their request is being tend to.

When an email is in regards to a staff type subject; for example a project, it is courteous to send your response to the person who it directly affects. Address the “cc” (carbon copy) to all other members of the staff to inform those involved in the project to do anything other than simply read the information that you send. When an email addresses the entire staff, all the members should be on the “To” line who truly needs to receive the information you are sending.  Each member should be listed in order of importance. If you are unsure of the order of importance, it is better to just list the managers first and then list the remaining names alphabetically rather to offend anyone.

It is important to use proper spelling, grammar & punctuation in your emails. This is not only important because improper spelling, grammar and punctuation gives our organization a bad impression, but also it’s important for translating the proper message. Emails with no full stop or commas are difficult to read and can sometimes even change the meaning of the message. Take advantage of the spell check feature before sending all emails or better yet, make spell check an automatic feature.

Please limit the use of “Bcc” in your email correspondence, instead use “cc”. The difference between the two is that when you “cc” people on an email, the “cc” list is visible to all other recipients and no one can see the list of recipients on the “bcc” list.  The receiver of the email has the right to expect that they have a list of all the recipients of the particular correspondence. It is dishonest to lead someone to believe that they are the only recipient of an email when they are not.

Precede time critical messages with “urgent”. For time-critical messages, starting with “urgent” is a good practice, especially if you know that the recipient gets a lot of emails. Only use the urgent option if your issue requires immediate action or attention.

Please do not use spam. Spam is defined as unsolicited bulk e-mail and loose links to the junk mail that sometime turns up in your inbox.  It can clog your e-mail accounts, networks and servers. Reduce the amount of spam you receive by being cautious where you post your e-mail address. Avoid submitting your e-mail address on Web sites or organization that requests it.  Don’t forward chain messages, which often reveal your coworkers’ and colleagues’ e-mail addresses to other parties. If you receive any spam, don’t open it just delete it.  If you accidentally open it, don’t click links offering to unsubscribe or remove you from the mailing list unless the sender is a trusted vendor because if you do they will continue to keep coming back.