5 Email Etiquette Tips for Effective Communication in the Digital Age!

It’s National Email Week, and we are celebrating one of the most valuable tools in an organization’s Tech Toolbelt. Email organizes communication between its members and makes collaboration easy – if you know how to use proper email etiquette. Read on for 5 tips to help you make the most of your email communications in the workplace and beyond!

Undo Send

If you’ve ever sent an email and immediately realized that you’ve forgotten to include something, this tip is for you! In your Gmail Inbox, you can give yourself up to 30 seconds to “Undo Send” an email before it is officially sent. To change this setting, access the Quick Settings menu in the top right corner. Next, choose “See all settings”, then scroll down to Undo Send. Select 30 seconds from the drop box and save your changes at the bottom of the page. After you send an email, a small pop-up will appear at the bottom of your screen allowing you to Undo Send. This will reopen the draft editor and allow you to make necessary changes. Then, you can resend when you’re ready.

Reply vs. Reply All

Knowing when to choose Reply or Reply All to an email will win – or lose – your friends in your workplace! You should only use Reply All when more than half of the people addressed in the original email need to see your response. This is helpful if multiple people are working on a project together and need to be kept in the loop with the latest updates. If you simply need to give the original sender an answer to a question, choose Reply. In a situation where you are unsure which is appropriate, always assume Reply is the best option!

CC vs. BCC

Similarly, using CC and BCC correctly can alleviate hassles and headaches in workplace emails. When you send emails to a large group of people, it is best to add each person to the BCC section. This helps protect against not only unwanted responses but can also prevent viruses from spreading between users.

When you BCC people, each of their responses will come only to you. If everyone on an email chain needs to be aware of each response, then CC is appropriate. If people are collaborating on a project, CC may be the best option. Otherwise, BCC will help to keep unrelated or irrelevant emails to a minimum, and is good email etiquette!

Subject Lines

Subject lines are the first thing someone sees when looking at your email, giving them an overview of what they can expect. It is good email etiquette to include a bit of information in your subject line that is relevant to the content inside, rather than something vague – or no subject at all. Subject lines like “Question about xyz” or “Meeting tomorrow at 3pm” can help the recipient prioritize and organize their inbox before opening each email. Later, if you need to reference that email thread again, having a specific subject line will help to narrow the search and find the information you need more quickly.

One topic per email

Emails are helpful to ask and answer questions, but if you include too many questions in one message it can get confusing, and you often don’t get each question answered! It is best to simplify your emails and discuss only one topic per message. This also helps if you need to go back and search for an answer in your emails later on – all messages regarding a single topic are within the same thread, ideally with a helpful and relevant subject line!

By following these tips and incorporating email etiquette into your communication strategy, you can maximize the effectiveness of your emails and foster strong professional relationships. S3 Technologies continue to pave the way for advancements in communication technology, making email an even more powerful tool in today’s digital landscape.