Email Etiquette: Six Quick Tips for Professionals

Email etiquette is so important in the workplace. During a time when email is a primary means of communication, having good email etiquette is essential.

Email etiquette in the workplace is vital, especially in an age where so much of what we do is digital! I’ve learned a lot about email etiquette during my time in Corporate America so of course I want to share the gems with you all. I’ve witnessed plenty of faux pas and poor etiquette over the years so I’m sharing these tips to ensure you aren’t offenders of these common mistakes.

To Reply All or not? That is the question

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people unnecessarily “reply all” to emails. If you’re collaborating with several people and need to address the entire group, it’s okay to reply to everyone. However, if the sender clearly states that you should reply back to them only, please adhere to their request. It’s not only bad email etiquette to do otherwise but you also risk cluttering people’s inboxes and cause a string of followers to reply all when they shouldn’t. Use your best judgment on this one and be aware of who should and shouldn’t be privy to your email responses.

Don’t allow email threads to go too long

My most recent boss brought this one to my attention. Her philosophy is that if you exchange more than three emails with a person, you should probably schedule a phone call. Exchanging too many emails can be an indicator that your message isn’t clear and it likely won’t be clarified with more emails. Try to keep your threads concise and know when you need to actually talk to someone to properly convey your message.

Girl, stop apologizing!

That line is an ode to one of my favorite self-help books (which I encourage everyone to read)! For a long time I had the tendency to be extremely apologetic via email and a former manager suggested I stop. The reason being is that you want to garner a certain level of respect from people. When your primary means of communication with someone is email, they build a perception of you based on those exchanges. Being overly apologetic can give of the perception that you aren’t confident in your work or that you’re a pushover. For example, if you make a mistake and someone calls it out instead of saying “I’m sorry, I made a mistake.” you can say “Thank you for the call out.” and move forward. The latter addresses any errors made but maintains an air of confidence

Double check a person’s name

There are few things people hate more than their name being spelled wrong via email. Most people’s names are either fully spelled out in their email or in their signature. Proper email etiquette is to double check the spelling of their name before addressing them. Failure to do so can leave a bad taste in someone’s mouth and lead them to believe that you’re careless. The same goes for shortening a person’s name that you aren’t familiar with. For example, if you’re emailing someone named “Michael”, don’t take it upon yourself to call them “Mike” if you aren’t familiar with them. Address people by their given names unless they tell you otherwise or you see a nickname in their signature.

Have an email signature

You yourself should have an email signature. A signature tells people who you are, what you do and how to reach you. Things you should include in your signature are: Your full name, a preferred name (ie. nickname), your role, your phone number and company name. Identifying yourself with an email signature also makes it easier for people to know if you’re the correct point of contact to handle a given issue.

Speak professionally

This should go without saying but I’m going to say it anyway. Please, always speak professionally when corresponding with someone via email. This includes a professional salutation and avoiding using slang terms. No matter how well you know the person you’re emailing, proper email etiquette is to use a professional tone regardless. Emails can be audited audited or sent to someone else for escalation so it’s in your best interest to err on the side of caution.

I hope these email tips were useful! Leave a comment and let me know if there are any email etiquette tips you have that I didn’t cover.