How to Email Correctly

Christians are to be Christ-like and that includes being as “top-notch” as we can in everything we do.

Emailing…it’s an area we can either look foolish and sloppy, or professional and well representative of who we work for. Emails are not as urgent as a cell phone text message, but is still a time-sensitive document. They are used as a “paper trail” for business or personal reasons, and should confirm to certain guidelines. Here’s how to have professional looking emails:

1. Realize that about 30% of office personnel’s time each day is devoted to emails, so accept it’s is part of your daily duties, not a nuisance.
2. Set your email software to receive at certain times of the day, so you are not distracted when each email comes in. Then deal with them all at that time.
3. Should you even email? When you have many items to explain or negotiate and you need quick feedback or dialog to avoid questions and confusion, call or talk in person, instead of email. You can always follow up with an email highlighting the discussion for a “paper trail”. Call on the phone or talk in person if you need to deliver bad news. Don’t email because you are scared or too lazy to call.
4. Every email should have something clear and direct in the “Subject” line, and should contain a searchable word such as the project name, main topic, or similar.
5. Be short and to the point in the body of the email, refrain from being longer than a few paragraphs.
6. Each email must begin with a proper salutation such as “Hello John”, or “Hi Allison”.
7. Each email should conclude with a positive greeting or compliment such as “Thank you for your time”, “Have a nice day”, “I appreciate your consideration”, or “Thank you for your hard work”.
8. Each email must end with your name or “e-signature”.
9. Each email must follow proper spelling and grammar, emails are NOT texts. No shortcuts to real words, no slang, and refrain from emoticons. Emails are personable and professional. Capitalize the first word in each sentence, use commas, periods, etc. as you would in a professional letter.Think twice before you “Reply All”. You don’t want to waste the time of the other recipients.
10. Use exclamation points sparingly, more than one is unprofessional.
11. Words in all capital letters convey yelling.
12. Refrain from humor, people may not realize the humor. If you must be humorous, end the sentence with a 🙂 (Smiley face)
13. No unprofessionalism (profanity, degrading words, confidential information, off color jokes, etc.).
14. If emailing for business, never send or forward an email not directly pertaining to the business (chain emails, joke emails, etc.).
15. It is a good habit to add the email address last. It prevents accidental sending. Double check the recipient to make sure it is the correct recipient. It’s easy to select the wrong name if your software auto-populates.
16. Reply to each email within an hour of receiving it, even if only to say “I’ll get back to you soon”. Deal with each email the same day as receiving it.
17. If you receive an email with something you asked for, thank the sender. It notifies them you received it, and you appreciate their time.Proof read each email prior to sending. Then ask, “Is this professional.” “Does this represent me or my company well?”
18. If you received an email by accident, kindly reply that you think it was, so they may send to the correct person.
19. Learn to “drag and drop” each email into a labeled folder for organization, and ease of finding when needed. A few seconds spent now, can save many minutes later.
20. One of the folders could be “Deal With Later” if the email is not immediately important. Just remember to go through this folder later.
21. Deal with the email in one form or another soon after it arrives. If you took the time to read it, you can take the time to deal with it then. Have a goal of “no un-dealt with emails” at the end of each day.

Compliments of www.bluejeanschristian.com