The Etiquette Around Email

My summer intern Evan Crimmins recently wrote a blog about the birth of email, and that made me want to take a look at the etiquette that’s involved in email communications—or etiquette I think should be involved.

Email is convenient, and it’s easy, and it makes pretty much everyone’s workflow easier, but it has its drawbacks as well, I think we’d all agree.

For one thing, it never stops. Email just keeps coming and coming. Minutes after you’ve spent a few hours going through your inbox, you walk away to have lunch and come back a half hour later to 20 new pieces of correspondence.

Sigh.

In addition to being relentless, email is also known to cause misinterpretations. Without facial expressions—like your big old smile to indicate a joke (or the attempt at one)—recipients can think a sender is upset with them when they are simply being silly with a quick thought or a snappy retort.

Because we all have to live with email, and we all do love it as much as we fear it, I wanted to step into the role of Emily Post for a moment on the topic. I happen to think she would agree with me on all the below points:

• Read your work before you hit “Send.” Make sure your emails make sense. Even though I’m an editor, I also am a former journalist, and I love email because it’s quick. Write it, whoosh, send it, done. That was my philosophy until I saw, more than once, how many typos I had sent out to clients in emails I had hastily composed. Doesn’t look good, coming from an editor. I had to learn the hard way to read emails over carefully and edit myself before I send, the way you would edit a letter you were printing to mail.
• Know when it’s time to pick up the phone. I learned from my colleagues, Ruth Griggs and Maureen Scanlon in The Creative, that sometimes, email is not the right means of communication. When concepts are complicated, for instance, or when you are discussing tender topics, such as contract negotiations, it’s always best to pick up the phone. Don’t take the risk that you might not communicate clearly via email. Don’t leave yourself open to misinterpretation when it matters most.
• Be responsive. A big pet peeve of mine is email corresponders who do not respond to email. I think of email as a conversation, so when you take the time to compose your thoughts—and sometimes that takes a good deal of time—and then you get no reply, it makes me cranky. If you’re too busy to craft a thoughtful reply in the moment, take a few minutes to say, “Got this and will offer a thoughtful response by Thursday,” for instance. Or, if all that’s required is a “Thanks, got it,” say that. Don’t just “walk away” from the conversation. Engage until there is proper closure. If you are someone who is often out of the office on business, consider an auto response that says, “I am out of the office frequently this week and will reply to your email as soon as I am able.” One of my clients, the young and savvy Mike O’Brien of League Legends, Inc., has this auto reply set up on his League Legends email: “It is our goal to reply within 24 hours but feel free to call or text Michael O’Brien at (413) 210-8823 or try the email address mobrien218@aol.com if you don’t hear back soon.” Nice.
• Don’t drag it on. At the same time, there’s no need for emails to go on and on and on. Here I mean follow-up emails with one quick thought in each: “Thank you.” “No, thank you.” “You’re welcome.” “Sure.” “Have a nice day.” Etc. etc.

If you have email etiquette thoughts to share with me, please do. I’m at janice@beetlepress.com, and I can assure you I will respond promptly!