After my Monday Morning Coffee a few weeks ago about conference/video call etiquette, I got a number of emails from folks wanting to share with me tips on email etiquette, or ask me to share tips on email etiquette. Thank you. I really appreciate the feedback and encourage you to always reach out to me for ideas and information on what you’d like to see and share. I always enjoy the interaction and learning from you!
Here are some great tips for respecting YOURSELF and OTHERS when emailing!
- Time is money – as the message sender the onus is one you to minimize the time your email takes to process.
- Short or Slow is not Rude – Let’s mutually agree to cut each other some slack! We all have email overload, so don’t panic if your email doesn’t get an immediate response. It doesn’t mean you are not important! Some folks do know how to balance their work/life!
- Slash Surplus cc’s (Thank You!) – You don’t need to copy everyone on the email when responding. Determine who really needs the information you are responding to and then don’t waste everyone else’s precious time.
- Tighten the Thread – If you don’t have to send reams of thread, then don’t! Some emails depend on the history of the email content, but if you have saved it once, there is no need to continue repeatedly sending it. Save you and the recipient some time.
- Attack Attachments – We all do it – want the pretty logos and signature blocks for everyone to see. But what we may not realize is they get sent as attachments and the recipient thinks it is meant for them to open, only to find it is a picture of your logo…….time waster! Take out the graphic files.
- Give these Gifts – EOM and NNTR – We will be seeing much more of these I have not doubt, so let’s have some fun with them. Short and sweet and then you are done and say EOM (End of Message) and followed by NNTR (No Need to Respond) and we have just saved us all countless hours of emailing! Come up with some fun acronyms and email me your favorites for an upcoming Monday Morning Coffee of Email Acronyms!
- Cut Countless Responses – You don’t need to reply to every email, especially not those that clearly don’t need a response, like “thanks for your note, I’m in” and then you reply, “Great”. Total time waster!
- Don’t Use Email When you Don’t Have To – Face to face conversations are still more personal than email, so don’t hide behind email. Pick up the phone and have a conversation, or better yet, walk out of your office and walk down the hall instead of emailing your neighbor in the office next to you….you know who you are!
- Disconnect – If we would all agree to spend less time doing email, we would all get less email! Commit to email free weekends – and stop and smell the roses instead!
EOM……..NNTR!
Make it a great day!