Author: Learning Partnerships

If you work for a company, you should use your company email address. But if you use a personal email account–whether you are self-employed or just like using it occasionally for work-related correspondences —you should be careful when choosing that address.

You should always have an email address that conveys your name so that the recipient knows exactly who is sending the email. Never use email addresses (perhaps remnants of your grade-school days) that are not appropriate for use in the workplace, such as “babygirl@…” or “beerlover@…” -; no matter how much you love a cold brew.

No one wants to read emails from 20 people that have nothing to do with them. Ignoring the emails can be difficult, with many people getting notifications of new messages on their smartphones or distracting pop-up messages on their computer screens. Refrain from hitting “reply all” unless you really think everyone on the list needs to receive the email.

Provide your reader with some information about you. “Generally, this would state your full name, title, the company name, and your contact information, including a phone number. You also can add a little publicity for yourself, but don’t go overboard with any sayings or artwork.” Use the same font, type size, and color as the rest of the email.

• Don’t use laid-back, colloquial expressions like, “Hey you guys,” “Yo,” or “Hi folks.”
• Do not shorten anyone’s name. Say “Hi Michael,” unless you’re certain he prefers to be called “Mike.”

Humour can easily get lost in translation without the right tone or facial expressions. In a professional exchange, it’s better to leave humour out of emails unless you know the recipient well. Also, something that you think is funny might not be funny to someone else.

Something perceived as funny when spoken may come across very differently when written. When in doubt, leave it out.

Miscommunication can easily occur because of different cultures, especially in the writing form when we can’t see one another’s body language. Tailor your message to the receiver’s cultural background or how well you know them.

A good rule to keep in mind, is that high-context cultures (Japanese, Arab, or Chinese) want to get to know you before doing business with you. Therefore, it may be common for business associates from these countries to be more personal in their writings. On the other hand, people from low-context cultures (German, American, or Scandinavian) prefer to get to the point very quickly.

Don’t rely on spell-checkers. Read and re-read your email a few times, preferably aloud, before sending it off.

One supervisor intended to write ‘Sorry for the inconvenience,'”  “But he relied on his spell-check and ended up writing ‘Sorry for the incontinence.'”

“You don’t want to send an email accidentally before you have finished writing and proofing the message. Even when you are replying to a message, it’s a good precaution to delete the recipient’s address and insert it only when you are sure the message is ready to be sent.

Every electronic message leaves a trail. A basic guideline is to assume that others will see what you write. Don’t write anything you wouldn’t want everyone to see.” A more liberal interpretation: Don’t write anything that would be ruinous to you or hurtful to others. Email is dangerously easy to forward, and it’s better to be safe than sorry.