Have you ever fired off an angry email, only to wish you hadn't? Or have you forgotten to cc your boss on an important message, only to get told off the next day? You're not alone. With the average office worker getting around 80 emails a day, keeping on top of your inbox can be a struggle. Respond too slowly, and you'll be drowning in email quicksand. Respond too quickly – without really thinking about what you're writing – and you'll be ruing the day for a long time to come. That's why we've put together our top email etiquette tips to help you handle work communication like a pro.
Email etiquette tips
So, first things first, here's what goes where when you’re writing an email:
TO: This field is where you put the address of the person (or people) you directly address in your email. It means that you expect them to take any action following your mail, or at least expect them to reply to you.
CC: How does cc work? When you add someone to this field, you are not addressing this person directly. The content of the email – and any subsequent thread resulting from the email – is for their information only. Recipients who are cc’d in an email generally don’t respond, unless they have something of particular value to add to the conversation.
BCC: And how does bcc work? When you add someone to this field, their email address is hidden from all other recipients. Also, 'bcc'd' recipients won't be automatically included in any replies. Use 'bcc' in group emails if you need to shield the identity/personal data of those on your recipient list. Be careful with 'bcc,' though. Using it for internal emails can create distrust, especially if someone finds out that a sensitive topic has been shared without their knowledge.
Subject line: The subject is the first thing your recipient will see when your mail appears in their inbox, so be direct, specific and to the point. Add 'urgent' to the subject line if your message is urgent. If you need a reply by a particular date, write it into the subject. If you're requesting an approval, yes, you guessed it. Add 'approval needed' as a prefix to your subject line. Avoid 'spammy' looking subject lines, like ALL CAPS or all lower case. Don't paste in links, and always avoid exclamation marks. Also, make sure your subject line matches your message.
Respond promptly
You emailed your client a few days ago but haven't heard anything back. Should you keep repeatedly emailing until you get an answer? Unless your request is urgent, give it a few more days, and consider forwarding your message with 'Kind reminder:' in the subject. However, if you are in the 'to': line of an incoming message, always aim to reply within 24 to 48 hours (unless it's urgent). And if you can't provide the timely response the sender's looking for, let them know.
Review what you write
Spellcheck will catch misspellings, but it won't catch out-of-context words and other inevitable mistakes. If your email is clumsy, disorganized or riddled with typos, its recipient will be inclined to think you're careless and sloppy, too. Write thoughtfully. Do a draft, put it aside for a few minutes, and come back and edit.
Don't over-share!
Perhaps you're stuck at home with the flu and need an extension on a task. Even if you can't think about anything other than your symptoms, keep the gory details to yourself. Briefly state your situation and its impact and leave it at that. Also: don't 'reply to all' unless your reply is of value to all!
Match your sender's tone (unless they're rude!)
Too slack? Too stuffy? Email etiquette can be subjective. We've all been irked by a 'passive-aggressive' comment, only to find later that the sender just happens to have a rather direct email style. Address people as they address you. Turn the formality up a notch if you're writing to someone you've never spoken to before. On the other hand, if a new client says 'cheers,' go ahead and say that, too. As for the tendency to abandon pleasantries altogether, why make work feel cold and transactional? If a sender skips salutations, it's OK to be more human in your reply. Go ahead and add a polite, 'Dear XYZ' or 'Kind regards.' You might start a trend!
Don't expect to be spoon-fed
Think twice before firing off emails that give people unnecessary extra work. It's OK to ask for help, but always take a moment to consider whether you can figure it out yourself. Also, before hitting 'Send,' ask yourself if your request can wait until your next scheduled meeting.
Never reply in haste (especially if you're angry)
Constant connectivity makes it more likely that we'll receive messages at 'the wrong time.' Resist the urge to fire back an email that looks like you've punched out rather than typed. An advantage of email over in-person correspondence is that you get time to think. Use it! Go away and calm down. Emails are all too easy to share – and far too hard to take back.
Read the room
Email etiquette moves with the times. Our inboxes were full of good wishes like “Stay safe” and “Be kind to yourself” from virtual strangers during the pandemic. Sometimes, in situations like these, an opening like "I hope you had a great weekend" that ignores mainstream news can come across as tone-deaf. While you should avoid sounding too apocalyptic (people won't want daily reminders of scary stuff), "I hope you and your family are healthy and safe during these difficult times” might be more appropriate. Also: never juxtapose a message of concern with a transactional request. Picture your recipient's face when you're writing, and you won't go wrong.
Know when not to use email
We've all heard stories about 'private' emails that end up all over the Internet. Before clicking 'send,' consider whether your subject is confidential, emotionally charged or open to misinterpretation. If you wouldn’t want your message being shared publicly, it probably makes more sense to pick up the phone instead.
Decoding buzzwords and business abbreviations
'Blue-sky it, ASAP!' "That sounds like too much heavy lifting for my current bandwidth." "Let's circle back EOD!"
Are you baffled by business buzzwords or drowning in acronym soup? At best, 'corp-speak' can sound ridiculous, pretentious or funny. At worst, it can be confusing, alienating and demoralizing, especially for non-native speakers and workers from underserved communities. But even when we know that jargon's not cool, you can feel pressure to keep up with it all. To help you out, we've put together this quick list:
Action items (stuff you need to act upon)
A single, clearly defined task (say, 'distribute call minutes,' or 'set up a client meeting'). They can also help teams pinpoint and describe the various things that need to be done to complete a project from start to finish in bite-sized steps.
End-user (or end-user perspective)
The person who uses a product or service, usually a customer, but not always. (For example, a bank might engage a software company to build an online banking app. But although the bank is the software company's customer, the end-user is the person who ultimately uses the online banking app.)
Bandwidth
The capacity to deal with something in the corporate world. So, if a colleague says, "I don't have the bandwidth," they mean they don't have the time to deal with a task or request.
Ping
'To ping' can mean to contact someone by phone, email, or text. So, if you see this, pay attention to all your devices!
Move the needle
A very popular corporate expression, this one refers to making a significant progress on a project or objective.
SME (subject matter expert)
An expert in their field. For example, if you're an experienced software tester, you might get asked to do an 'SME review' of a how-to testing guide.
EOD (end of day); COB (close of business)
Typically, someone who uses these abbreviations might mean around 5 pm, or whenever your businesses (or most businesses in your sector/area) power down for the day. But the rise of flexible and cross-border working has made this a blurry concept. If you're not sure what the sender means, ask. And be precise in your writing. Substitute 'EOD' or 'COB' with 5 pm with 6 pm, or whatever time you really mean!
ASAP (as soon as possible)
If you see this word in an email, the sender probably needs something done in a hurry. But again, there's scope for interpretation. Does it mean she needs it by the end of the day? Does she mean I should start working on it once I've finished all my other work? Save yourself the guesswork and ask for clarification.
OOO (out of office)
When someone's not at work that day or away from their regular workstation (say, on holiday or business travel), they often switch on automatically generated 'OOO' email replies, so senders expect a delayed response.
IMO/IMHO (in my opinion or my humble opinion)
This is just a shortcut to sharing one's (humble) opinion. Some folks would say that the 'H' stands for 'honest' (i.e., in my honest opinion) but 'humble' is more common.
KPI (key performance indicator)
A measurement of how a team or business is performing against set goals. An effective KPI will demonstrate either progress or the need to course-correct.
NWR (Not work-related)
An email or communication that's not directly related to work. People use this acronym in the subject line to separate it from the regular business communication flow.
WFH (work from home)
A good acronym to know in these times of vastly increased remote and home-based workers!
Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4
The business year has four 'quarters.' The first quarter (Q1) = January 1 - March 31; second quarter (Q2) = March 1 – June 30; third quarter (Q3) = July 1 – September 30; fourth quarter (Q4) = October 1 – December 31.
B2B (business to business)
A transaction between one business and another (as opposed to between a business and an end-user/consumer).
B2C (business to consumer)
Sales or communications between businesses and end consumers (rather than to other businesses).
ROI (return on investment)
A performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency or profitability of an investment, relative to its cost.
SEO (search engine optimization)
The optimization of a website's pages in terms of content relevance, link popularity and technical relevance to improve their rankings with search engines.
FYI (for your information)
Commonly used in business communications to indicate that a message is for informational purposes only and doesn't require any action.
PTO (paid time off)
Statutory leave entitlement or annual leave, PTO is a period that an employee can take off work while receiving their regular compensation.
TBD (to be determined)
Used to indicate that the details of something will be announced later. For example, the time or place of an upcoming event has not yet been decided yet and will be announced later.
HQ (headquarters)
The company's head office or control centre.
So, there you have it! Our short guide to business acronyms and proper email etiquette. Why not bookmark this page and keep coming back to it so you can make sure you avoid embarrassing blunders and miscommunications at work?
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