Wake up to e-mail etiquette

Email is the default communication method in offices. Yet, many people unwittingly alienate colleagues and clients by being impatient, rash and presumptuous in their mails, writes Ailín Quinlan.

The next time you’re about to press ‘send’ on a shoot-from-the-hip email to a work colleague, think about this: “Emails are the catalyst for about 60% of the consultations I do with people who’re thinking of taking constructive dismissal or bullying or harassment cases,” says communications guru Terry Prone.

“A big firm has just commissioned us to improve their communications strategy, “says Prone. “One of the first things we’ll do is look at the style, proofreading and attention to detail manifest in every email, as well as the level of personal communication represented.”

Or think about this, from management consultant Rowan Manahan, MD of the career management firm Fortify Services. Some of the mistakes he’s seen in professional emails, are “staggering”:

“Tone is absolutely crucial. There are now a significant number of studies which indicate that about 50% of people interpret the right tone and the right inference from an email message – and 50% do not.”

Do you, he asks, really want to flip a coin in terms of getting an important professional communication seriously wrong?

The problem with email he believes, is that so much of it is “unconsidered.” He suggests taking the time to google and install the ‘Undo Send’ Gmail button for those times you re-consider.

So consider the following:

1. Don’t presume that everyone has time to check their email inbox every 20 minutes

“Some of us get hundreds of mails a day — and we can spend most of our day in meetings, making presentations, or consulting with clients — so there’s no point in getting ratty if you don’t get action on your urgent email for several hours or even overnight,” says Prone.

If it’s truly urgent, she suggests, send the email — then text or phone the person to alert them.

2. Beware the Reply All button — use only in the context of very safe, bland messages

“This can be a nightmare where a lot of emails are going back and forth — it can be a catastrophe; it’s certainly a minefield and is the source of a lot of distress in the email world,” says Manahan, who points out that if a significant email is inadvertently sent to the wrong person, it can cause enormous trouble.

“Better to think about it, store it in a draft folder and return to it later, re-read it and check the tone and for any ambiguity.”

And remember, warns Prone, if you’re ticking someone off, your email should only go to them.

However, she says, she’s encountered situations where a boss or someone from another department criticises an employee in an email which is cc’d to others.

“This is sometimes used as a way of getting at the target and the target’s boss. The target ends up with me trying to work out if this was done deliberately or accidentally.”

3. Don’t write emails if you’re feeling angry, emotional, or if you’re laughing, distressed or geographically close to the person you’re emailing

“The old advice to ‘breathe deeply and count to 10’ stands doubly true when it comes to responding to an upsetting email,” warns Rowan Manahan.

“Punch the wall but don’t punch the send button,” he advises.

And don’t send an email when it’s possible to actually talk to someone about its content, says the outspoken Prone.

“Get up off your arse. You might have to climb a couple of flights of stairs? Good for you — and good for your relationships with other people!”

Getting straightforward emails from someone three cubicles away looks ridiculous and worse, can be perceived as offensive, warns Manahan.

“The message sent out is: you are not worth my time.”

4. Speed is not your friend

Don’t agree to anything, condemn anybody or refuse to do something in an email because you feel you’re under time pressure.

“The ‘it must be right now’ pressure is mythical,” says Prone.

“Resist it. Take your time. If it’s extremely sensitive, sleep on it. Second thoughts are often better than first thoughts.”

5. Never send bad news by email

“Take the time to speak to people by phone if possible, or if it is to do with a tragedy involving an employee, call a group of colleagues together,” says Lorna Sixsmith of We Teach Social.

6. Beware of irony, sarcasm and “only joking” rudeness

Err on the side of caution, Prone advises.

“Remember the recipient can’t see you or gauge the tone of your voice. For the same reason, even if you’re in a hurry, beware of being terse. It says ‘too busy to be nice’ at the other end,” she observes.

7. Greetings

“Use a greeting like ‘Dear Lorna’ or ‘Hello Lorna’. A lot of people don’t [opting to go straight to the substantive point],” says Lorna Sixsmith.

“My bank manager did it to me once and I felt like a naughty schoolchild! You feel like you’re being told off!”

Baldly using a person’s name is a real no-no, she warns. Your email must be prefaced by a form of address because otherwise it may come across as rude and aggressive.

8. Signing off

Sign off with courtesy, advises Noreen D’Arcy of D’Arcy PR: She suggests the following — thanking the person for their help, advice or interest, offering your best regards, or mentioning that you will be in touch later.

Don’t forget to put your name at the end of your email, counsels Prone.“It looks rude not to, even if the recipient knows who sent it,” she observes. And yes, ensure your email sign-off includes your name — even if it’s already in your automatic sign-off, adds D’Arcy.

9. Don’t be over-familiar

If you want a business leader to attend a conference, don’t first-name him or her as if you went to school together, warns Prone.

“And don’t use XXX. I once absent-mindedly XXX’d the end of an email I was sending to a civil servant I had never met. Thanks to FOI, it ended up on the front page of a newspaper.”

As Noreen D’Arcy of D’Arcy PR puts it: “Here’s someone giving me a kiss and I hardly know them!”

10. Watch your punctuation or spelling

If you’ve problems in this area, use the browser extension Grammarly, suggests Lorna Sixsmith — it will flag up typos, punctuation errors or grammatical mistakes.

Don’t use text speak, abbreviation, emoji’s or ‘trendy’ acronyms in work emails and avoid using all capitals, she says — it looks like you’re shouting.

“A person who uses text-speak or abbreviations in their emails is telling me to take them less seriously,” warns Manahan.

“And the next time I get three upturned thumbs, I’m going to go amputate the real thumbs of the sender,” threatens Prone.

In a nutshell - applying ‘netiquette’ to emails:

■ Avoid the knee jerk email, don’t write one if you’re angry, distressed or emotional

■ Maintain the human connection — if the topic is simple and the person you want to talk to is close, take the time to chat face-to-face

■ Use a greeting

■ Sign off courteously

■ Always include your name in the sign-off

■ Be careful about spelling, punctuation and grammar

■ Avoid text-speak, writing in capitals, the use of emojis, abbreviations or ‘trendy’ acronyms

■ Never give bad news via email

■ Beware of irony or sarcasm

■ Don’t rush to judgement — don’t send an email agreeing to anything, condemning anybody or refusing to do something. Think it over first

■ Don’t presume that people check their emails constantly. Many people only have time to do this twice or three times a day, so don’t expect an immediate response to a query

■ Beware the Reply All button — use only with very safe, very bland work emails