Advice On How To Write Professional E-mails

by hflower

posted on 08/15/2009

How to Write Professional E-Mails

Although e-mail has become ubiquitous in business and surveys show that American workers are spending increasingly larger amounts of time on the internet, most workers have not given much thought to how to fashion their e-mails in a manner that best represents them. Most of us spend more of our time on thinking about how we should dress for work than on what principles we should use in writing the countless e-mails that we author while we are there.

So here are some principles for writing professional e-mails:

1. Unfamiliarity=Formality: The less familiar you are with the recipient of the e-mail, the more formal and businesslike you should be in manner. If you are just e-mailing your best friend who works across the desk from you and who you have known since childhood, you do not need to be formal or businesslike. But, if you are e-mailing the president of the company, your boss, one of the clients of the company, or a worker at a company that cooperates with yours, you should adopt a more formal, less familiar style and tone. The rest of the points relate to doing this.
2. Avoid Text Messaging Abbreviations and Slang: In formal e-mails avoid using abbreviations like "OMG!" or other slang. Formal writing means writing in complete sentences with good punctuation and grammar. You don't need to pretend that your college comp teacher is going to check your e-mail, but you should spend a little time revising it. The problem with text messaging abbreviations and slang is that it can alienate your audience, especially if they are older than you. Many of those in the Me Generation and even some Gen Xers are not familiar with the common terms that Gen Yers take for granted, and they may simply not understand what you are trying to get across. Even if they do understand they might take your comments less seriously if you deliver them in a manner that reminds them their slacker teenagers at home.
3. Be Polite: Be sure to properly greet the person you are e-mailing and end your e-mail by thanking them for their time. Although it is fairly typical in e-mail etiquette to get to the point and then take off, the more formal your e-mail the more you should try to observe the sorts of rules you would in old fashioned snail mail. Generally, it is not a bad idea to begin with a short, one line greeting like "Hope all is well," or "I'm sorry for taking so long getting back to you," etc. And you should always thank your co-workers for their time and efforts, given how much time we spend on e-mails these days.
4.Be Careful What You Write: We have all heard the horror stories where someone bad mouths their boss in an e-mail but then instead of sending to just their co-worker accidentally sends it to everyone. In office e-mails it is a good idea to always assume that everyone is looking over your shoulder since such e-mails are routinely monitored these days and since things have a habit of popping up again. Chain e-mails begin around certain issues and then it is not uncommon to find an e-mail that you're not so sure you wanted forwarded to sales as part of a longer discussion. So, generally speaking, keep bitching about the boss out of e-mails, don't use profanity or vulgar language, and don't conduct your office romance via the company web account or you just might find you have unexpected company on the 7th floor stairwell you two love bird's call the "7th Heaven Lunch Break Special."

Follow these rules and of course break them when common sense dictates and things should go well. Thank you for your time. XOXO! Flowergirl!

Comment on this article

You must be logged in to post comments.

Previous Comments

Asahd2 says:

(335d 14h 14min ago)