Computers and smart phones equipped with e-mail have made quick communication so easy, but have also opened up all new ways for us to embarrass ourselves. Private e-mails sent to the wrong person or messages forwarded to everyone can not only be embarrassing and unprofessional, but can mean losing your job if it happens at work. Here are a few tips to keeping your work e-mail interactions professional.
-If you have a separate e-mail account for work, do not message personal contacts from your work account. That will keep you from accidentally sending private messages to work colleagues. In general, sending private messages on company time is a bad idea.
-Check before you hit send! Check the send box to make sure you send the message to the correct person.
- Spell check your e-mails. Clients and colleagues will not take your messages seriously if you have misspelled words or poor grammar.
- Do not forward useless e-mails. No one wants their work account filled up with cute pictures or chain e-mails. Important messages may be ignored if you are constantly sending silly messages.
- Avoid using “Reply All”. It is almost never necessary. Simply replying to the original sender is usually the best course of action. It can also lead to embarrassing situations if you hit reply all by accident.
- Do not use work e-mail to gossip. It is unprofessional.
- In e-mail communication and online, using all capital letters in equivalent to yelling. IT IS REALLY ANNOYING. Capitalize the first letter of a sentence and proper nouns, not every word.
- Avoid using short hand in professional messages. If over-used, you sound like a 13 year old girl, and it can lead to misunderstandings. Use a clear, professional tone.