The Proper Use of Email in the Workplace

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.