CNET is asking everyone on what eMail etiquette is all about. I just posted one entry and here it is –
I work in a global IT organization and part of our employee induction is a course on eMail etiquette. I have found that a lot of what is taught there is also valid for personal emails. Just a few pointers –
Always make sure subject lines are really reflective of the email. When forwarding / replying to emails, sometimes it is proper to change the email subject, especially if it is an email trail being forwarded to a new set of people.
Spell check emails and try not to use contractions / SMS language. You may know what B4 means, but not everyone else does
In todays connected world, email is taken at par with actually talking to a group of people. So, try not to use CAPS, dont use language that sounds offensive and always review your emails, especially if you send to a large group of people
One of the biggest problems in the wired world today is actually ePollution. Dont forward emails just because your email software / service has a Forward button. Before you forward “does this communication add any value to people in the recipient list” if the answers has even an iota of negativity in it, dont forward.
Always clean up any unnecessary forward trail, if it does not change the meaning or veracity of the email.
Bandwidth may be plentiful, but is still precious. Dont flood because you are on a T1 link. Your recipients may not have the luxury of a limitless bandwidth (yes, there are still people using a 56 KBPS dialup)
Sending BCC emails is like snitching on your friends. It is a extremely rude, a low down dirty trick to use BCC for keeping people in the loop without letting others know. If nothing else, its just plain impolite. If possible, just disable the BCC field.
You are responsible for what you send. Always make sure you verify the veracity of what you send, especially forward emails. It usually takes a simple google search to verify the truth in most of the “need help” emails we get. take responsibility for what you send.
Always have a signature to your emails. Its polite to let people know who wrote in.
If possible, indicate importance or moods in your email (also called flagging). When using our official email for personal communication, we usually flag it as “personal”, which indicates to recipients – read when you have time.
See the whole thred on