Unsurprisingly, email is the form of communication that most professionals choose. It’s fast and relatively unobtrusive. However, failing to follow the recommended email etiquette rules may get you into trouble. If you are too quick to hit the “send” button and don’t put a lot of thought into each email, you could be sending the wrong message – in more ways than one. Here are some of the worst email mistakes you could make at the workplace:
- Writing in capital letters. A lot of people write entire emails in capitals. Email Etiquette 101 teaches us that IT’S LIKE SHOUTING. You may think that this can’t possibly affect your career, but you may be annoying more people than you think. And that can’t be good for anyone’s career.
- Sending an email to the wrong recipient/s. Sending a client’s confidential information to the wrong person could get you into a heap of trouble, to say the least, not to mention private messages, personal photos, etc…to the whole company. But this is something that consistently happens again and again, simply because people don’t take the time to check the list of recipients.
- Using the wrong tone. Finding the right tone for your message may be one of the hardest things to do, particularly if the email is very short. Words must be chosen carefully or the wrong tone may be conveyed. A humorous remark may be taken as inappropriate. If you are unsure about how a comment will be interpreted, it’s best to leave it out.
- CCing everyone in the company. Most people’s inboxes are filled with countless emails every day. Why add to an already clogged inbox when it may not be necessary for them to read the message?
- Being unfamiliar with your company’s email policy. Business email etiquette states that your company email should be used strictly for company business. Moreover, company email accounts are periodically monitored for inappropriate communication. You should have a personal email account to communicate with family and friends.
Why risk losing your job or ruining your career when it’s so easy to learn the correct e-mail etiquette? The award-winning e-learning course, Think Before You Send: A Practical Guide to E-mail in the Workplace, helps you minimize these risks by teaching you the proper email etiquette. This is more than a simple email guide. It is the only email etiquette training you will ever need. In this course, you’ll get more than just a few email tips; you’ll learn critical thinking skills and professional email writing tips that will help you communicate business matters while maintaining the right tone.
We’re only human, and we make mistakes. But some mistakes may cost us our jobs. Sign up for our e-learning course and make sure your business communications are nothing but professional from now on.
Image credit: Sean MacEntee on Flickr