How to maintain professional standards while using e-mail

E-mails are a quick, easy and powerful medium of communication ‘hair-raising’ assets: and there are certain professional standards expected. Here are a few things to keep in mind on e-mail conduct:

DON’T USE SHOUTY CAPITALS Using all capital letters amounts to screaming and using all lower case letters suggests you’re lazy. If you do need to highlight, bold the text or italicize

SPELL NAMES CORRECTLY It speaks volumes about your attitude. “If he/she cannot get my name right, can I trust him/her with responsibilities?” is what someone might think about you

KEEP EMOTICONS AT BAY It’s fine to use a smiley when writing to people you know, but with someone you are interacting with for the first time? Don’t, it is highly unprofessional

TALKING IS STILL IMPORTANT There is no need to e-mail every little thing to someone sitting right next to you. Also, do not use e-mails to escape difficult situations. Speak to the person directly

GET GRAMMAR RIGHT Spellings and grammar are essential. If you’re not sure how your e-mail reads, have a friend or colleague read it

REPLY ON TIME If you are very busy, so is the other person. He/she is not shooting e-mails to random people, there is a purpose behind it

DON’T OVERUSE ‘URGENT’ Do not use ‘Urgent’ or ‘Important’ for all of your e-mails. Instead, flag your e-mails as ‘High Importance’. But again, use it sparingly

SEND BUSINESS MAILS WITH CARE Think of your business e-mail as though it was on your company’s business letterhead and you’ll never go wrong

SOURCE : MENSXP. COM, VARIOUS WEBSITES