Helen Williams

When the use of email became common in the early 鈥�90s, the business world changed.

According to Jacqueline Whitmore, author, Business Etiquette Expert and Founder of The Protocol School of Palm Beach, Florida, United States, e-mail now takes up a significant portion of our workday.

A study by the International Data Corporation (IDC) also showed workers spend 28 per cent of their workweek reading and answering email.

While we try to work faster and more efficiently, we must not forget the social rules that accompany any form of communication.
Here are some of the dos and don鈥檛s of email etiquette.

a. Do have a clear subject line.
Most of us have to compete with the hundreds of e-mails clogging our inbox every day, so the clearer your subject line, the more likely your message will be read.

b. Do not forget your signature.
Every e-mail should include a signature that tells the recipient who you are and how to contact you. Set it up to automatically appear at the end of each email. Include all of your contact details so the recipient doesn鈥檛 have to look up your address, email or phone number.

c. Do use a professional salutation.
Using 鈥淗ey,鈥� 鈥淵o,鈥� or 鈥淗iya鈥� isn鈥檛 professional, no matter how well you know the recipient. Use 鈥淗i鈥� or 鈥淗ello鈥� instead. To be more formal, use 鈥淒ear (insert name).鈥� Using the person鈥檚 name in the salutation — 鈥淗ello Robert鈥� — is quite appropriate, but remember not to shorten a person’s name unless you’re given permission to do so.

d. Do not use humour.
Humor does not translate well via email. What you think is funny has a good chance of being misinterpreted by the other party, or taken as sarcasm, without the accompanying vocal tone and facial expressions. When in doubt, leave humor out of business communications.

e. Do proofread your message.
Do not be surprised if you are judged by the way you compose an e-mail. For example, if your e-mail is littered with misspelled words and grammatical errors, you may be perceived as sloppy, careless, or even uneducated. Check your spelling, grammar and message before hitting 鈥渟end.鈥�

f. Do not assume the recipient knows what you are talking about.
Create your message as a stand-alone note, even if it is in response to a chain of emails. This means no 鈥渙ne-liners.鈥� Include the subject and any references to previous emails, research or conversations. It can be frustrating and time consuming to look back at the chain to brush up on the context. Your recipient may have hundreds of emails coming in each day and likely won鈥檛 remember the chain of events leading up to your e-mail.

g. Do reply to all e-mails.
Give a timely and polite reply to each legitimate email addressed to you. Even if you do not have an answer at the moment, take a second to write a response letting the sender know you received their email. Inform the sender if their email was sent to the wrong recipient, too.

h. Don’t shoot from the lip. Never send an angry e-mail, or give a quick, flip response. Give your message some thoughtful consideration before sending it. If you feel angry, put your message into the 鈥渄rafts鈥� folder, and review it again later when you are calmer and have time to formulate an appropriate response.

i. Do keep private material confidential.
It is far too easy to share e-mails, even inadvertently. If you have to share highly personal or confidential information, do so in person or over the phone. Ask permission before posting sensitive material either in the body of the e-mail or in an attachment.

j. Do not overuse exclamation points. Exclamation points and other indications of excitement such as emoticons, abbreviations such as LOL, and all CAPITALS do not translate well in business communications. Leave them off unless you know the recipient extremely well. It鈥檚 also not professional to use a string of exclamation points!!!

It may take some practice to keep your e-mails professional and to the point, but you will look more polished and organised in the long run when you apply these tips.