SCENARIO:You invited a business acquaintance to a special luncheon, one which required advance purchase of the $50 per plate ticket. Your friend accepted the invitation enthusiastically. On the day of the function, your friend sends an email message at 10:30 a.m. to tell you something came up and she won’t be able to make it to the lunch.
How can this person presume that you will see the message before the luncheon, let alone as quickly as possible so that you have a few minutes to try to find a replacement? If it is a time-sensitive issue, use the phone to ensure that your message is received.
This was an actual incident. The party on the receiving end of the email in this situation was one of my column’s monthly publishers. She asked me to write an article about email etiquette. I passed the question on to a large group for their feedback. The following are among the issues that were raised. They may appear to be common sense, but the fact that they were mentioned means that many people are not stopping to think before they hit that “Send” button.
“Reply” vs. “Reply to All”-- Be careful in choosing the correct button, especially if you are in a group such as a Yahoo group. If you are the one writing the message, put your reply email address in the very first line rather than at the bottom. It is easier to locate and will catch the reader’s attention right away.
Bcc--Use this field when sending to a large group. No one wants to scroll down a full page to get past the list of addresses. Even if it is not a large group, use this when not everyone in the group knows each other. People can be very sensitive about their addresses being revealed in light of spam proliferation.
Subject lines--Create a *spark* to get someone’s attention. You can include 6-8 words within a subject line. Think back to the old days when telegrams were the urgent communication medium. At $10 per word, what words would you choose?
Emotion--Technology is not the means to employ in demonstrating anger, hurt, or any other negative feeling. A poorly worded or emotional message can escalate feelings and be difficult to correct.
Email’s ease-of-use provides value, but then its ease of use also creates problems. The fact that the above issues were spotlighted as irritants means that we may need to pause and review our messages before hitting “Send.”
