E-mail Etiquette Minding your manners when using e-mail pays off.

Long ago, before there were telephones, a woman travelingoverseas cabled her husband for permission to buy jewelry. Herhusband responded: NO. COST TOO GREAT.

However, technology then was less than perfect. So instead, thewoman received this message: NO COST TOO GREAT.

Today, most of us use e-mail for messages. But althoughtechnology has advanced beyond cables, small details still affectthe way the recipient sees and interprets a message--sometimes toyour detriment.

Using e-mail effectively and professionally is essential to yourbusiness success. Here are some tips to get the most from youre-mail.

Easy Does It

Several options make e-mail more convenient for you and yourrecipients.

• Use settings and preferences. Look for an e-mail package thatlets you select specific settings and preferences that affect allyour e-mail activity. This way, you won't have to repeat stepsevery time you send a message.

• Include your real name in your return address. Suppose youreceived a message from "12345.678@abc.com." How easilycould you determine the sender's real name? Unfortunately, somee-mail providers assign users "nonintuitive" names suchas this.

To help the recipient quickly and easily identify you, set your"return address" to include your real name as well asyour e-mail address.

• Use a signature file with your messages. As an e-mailrecipient, you might want to see more than just message text and areturn address from a sender. For instance, you might also want tosee the sender's telephone number and mailing address.

Most e-mail packages allow you to include this informationthrough a "signature file." To do so, you simply use wordprocessing software to create and save the address information youwant to appear on every e-mail message you send. Then go into youre-mail software and specify at the appropriate menu the name of thefile you created in the step above.

Most e-mail packages have a "preferences" menu whereyou would type in this information, as well as specify your returnaddress as described earlier.

After completing these steps, you need only create and send amessage to a recipient. Your e-mail package will automaticallyattach your signature file information to the end of eachmessage.

Test your changes by sending a message to yourself. To make thetest valid, treat yourself as an external recipient; that is,include the "@xxxx.yyy" domain name information in theaddress. Doing so ensures your message reaches you via theInternet.

• Use the "subject" line. By doing so, you allow therecipient who is pressed for time to quickly select and read onlythe messages that are important to him or her. Also, limit eachmessage to a single subject.

• If you are testing your e-mail, inform your recipients. As acourtesy, put the word "TEST" in the subject line to savethe recipient from having to open the message.

Best Impressions

What kind of impression is your e-mail conveying? Use thefollowing tips to make sure it's a good one.

• Check spelling. Although e-mail is less formal than traditionalmail, appearance still counts. Many businesspeople interpret amisspelled message as evidence of carelessness. Are you sure thisis the image you want to convey?

If your e-mail software offers a spell-checking feature, use it.Otherwise, you have two alternatives: Either use a dictionary, orcompose your message with a word processing package and use itsspelling checker. Then copy (or cut and paste) the text into youre-mail application.

• Don't yell. When composing your e-mail message, use upper-and lower-case typing. Using only upper-case letters is consideredthe equivalent of SHOUTING!

• Use "emoticons" and acronyms where necessary. Writtene-mail communication cannot convey gestures, vocal inflection orbody language to the recipient. Sometimes this can lead tomisinterpreted messages. To address this shortcoming, e-mail usershave developed a set of symbols dubbed "emoticons" toconvey nonverbal intent. Common emoticons include:

I'm grinning as I write this sentence.

I'm laughing out loud.

I'm rolling on the floor [laughing].

:-) denotes a smile (Turn your head 90 degrees to the left tosee why.)

;-) denotes a wink

Being familiar with common acronyms used online will save youtyping time:

• FYI

• ASAP

• BTW (by the way)

• IM[H]O (in my [humble] opinion)

• Phrase your messages positively. It's important to avoidharsh or negative wording. Phrasing a message positively elicits abetter response from the recipient and ensures a greater chance ofclear understanding.

For example, consider the following pairs of phrases:

1. "We cannot permit you to use this material."

2. "We regretfully are unable to permit you to use thismaterial."

Or

1. "We cannot ship your order until your account iscurrent."

2. "Once your account is current, we can ship yourorder."

Each sentence in the pair has the same meaning. However, thesecond one sounds friendlier and will create a better impressionwith the recipient.

Playing It Safe

The process of sending and replying to messages is rife withopportunities for error. Here's how to make sure theappropriate message is sent to the right person.

• Keep it blank. When composing a message to send, leave the"recipient" field blank as long as possible. By doing so,you will prevent a premature sending of your message. Even if youaccidentally hit the "send" key or click the"send" icon, your message will go to no one. Once you aresatisfied with your message, select your recipient and send.

What about an e-mail reply? When you reply to a message sent toyou (as opposed to composing a new message from scratch), youre-mail package will take the original sender's name and make itthe recipient. Therefore, the "recipient" field will becomplete even before you start typing the text of your reply. Youcould, of course, delete the recipient's name on replies.

• Check how you are replying to messages. Most e-mail packagesallow you to include the sender's original message in yourreply. This type of reply method is called "replyinclude." It makes it easier for the original sender toremember what you are replying to. Also, you may be able to specifywho should receive your reply, specifically:

• only the original sender ("reply to sender")

• everyone who received the sender's message--that is, allthe other original recipients, plus all the carbon-copy recipients("reply all")

If you wish to avoid embarrassment (or worse), pay attentionwhen sending a reply. Do you disagree with a message that was sentto you and dozens of others? Then be sure to "reply tosender" rather than "reply all." Otherwise, yourreply will go to all the original recipients, making your privatedisagreement public.

There are generally four options for sending a reply:

• Reply to sender (no include)

*Reply to sender include

• Reply all (no include)

• Reply all include

• Use the "unsending" message option when necessary.Some e-mail packages allow you to unsend, or "take back,"a message you have sent. This feature provides a measure of safety.However, not all e-mail packages have it, and even those that doallow you to unsend your message only under certain conditions.Therefore, you're still far better off sending an appropriatemessage in the first place or not sending one at all.

• Understand the out-basket function. To save telephone costs andtime, many e-mail packages allow you to compose and read messagesoffline. When you are offline, messages you want to send areusually placed in an out-basket. This feature is handy; however, besure you understand how your package handles out-basket messageswhen you connect. Will your package send your messagesautomatically as soon as you connect, or must you send each messageindividually?

• Use e-mail appropriately. Although e-mail is convenient, someformal situations still warrant using standard mail instead ofe-mail. Don't use e-mail to terminate someone or when sending aletter to someone against or by whom legal action might betaken.

• Keep security limitations in mind. Think of e-mail as anelectronic postcard, and write your message accordingly. You haveno idea how your message gets to your recipient or who could bereading it. In fact, if you misaddress your message, it could endup being read by a network administrator.

• Remember that deleted messages may not be. Many computersystems are backed up to tape for security reasons. Therefore, evenif you delete an incoming message, or a copy of an outgoing one,that message might still exist on a backup tape somewhere. Thinkcarefully before sending messages.

• Be careful with file attachments. The "fileattachment" feature of e-mail allows you to send data orprograms to a recipient rather than just message text. Most e-mailpackages that support file attachments do so via one of twostandards: MIME or UUCODE. When sending a file to someone, it'sa good idea to find out which standard he or she is expecting.Otherwise, your file may appear on their system as unreadablegarbage. If that person doesn't know, ask to talk to theirnetwork or systems administrator.

Attachments can cause other problems, not the least of which isthe risk of your computer becoming infected with a virus. Toprotect yourself, refrain from opening files as attachments.Instead, save the attachment to disk, then scan it with antivirussoftware first.

• Use message history logs. Some e-mail packages allow you tomonitor what happens to e-mail messages you send via a history log.This log keeps track of the time and date you send your message aswell as when (or if) your recipient reads your note, if theyforwarded it, or if they deleted it. This kind of message historyis more likely to be used in internal e-mail as opposed to external(to the Internet) e-mail. Still, a history log could be useful inprotecting you in disputes over who said what and when.

• Forward e-mail from lesser-used accounts. At times, you mayhave more than one e-mail account. For example, as a consultant,you would naturally have an account through your own company.However, if you were spending a lot of time with a client, youmight also have an e-mail account on your client's system.Rather than checking both systems for incoming mail, considerforwarding your mail. Then, messages to you at your own systemwould be sent automatically to you at your client's systemwithout additional effort by your sender.

• Answer your e-mail. Incredibly enough, many companies fail todo so. What kind of impression does this make on potentialcustomers? If you are unable to answer as quickly as you wouldlike, ask if your e-mail provider supports"autoresponding." With this function, when someone sendsyou an e-mail, your system automatically replies with a formmessage thanking them for their message and giving whateverstandard information you wish. Obviously, this option is lessdesirable than a true reply, but it at least lets your sender knowyour e-mail address is valid. If you are unwilling to do either,stop publicizing e-mail as a way to contact your company. Do itright or not at all.

E-mail can be a tremendous productivity tool. However, be sureyou use it correctly so you convey the most professional imagepossible.

Contact Source

Calvin Sun is the founder and principal of Technology Horizons,a consulting and training firm in Paoli, Pennsylvania. He is theauthor of several articles on effective communication skills andcomputer problems. He can be reached via e-mail at csun@sprynet.com.