y Poe MIRE TecImeca communecamon Do not overuse the high priority option ‘Weall know the story of the boy who cried wolf Overuse of the high-priority option a it lose its function when really needed. Moreover, even if a message has high Priory tke come across as slightly aggressive if tis flagged as ‘high priority’ i Donotattach unnecessary files Large attachments can annoy readers and even bring down their email system, Possible, try to compress attachments and only send attachments when they are Prod Moreover, one should have a good virus scanner in place to prevent the readers from, Tee documents containing viruses 7 Re-read the email before you send it A lot of people do not bother to re-read an email before they send it out, as can be seen fae many spelling and grammatical mistakes contained in emails. Besides, reading the emajn the recipients’ perspective will help frame a more effective message and avoid misundertaige and inappropriate comments, Take care with abbreviations and emoticons In business emails, try not to use abbreviations such as BTW and LOL. The recipient mighe hot be aware of the meanings of the abbreviations, and in business emails these are ge not appropriate. The same goes for emoticons. It is advisable to avoid using any entities thatthe recipient might not be familiar with. Be careful with formatting Remember that when an emails formatted, the sender might not be able to view the format or might see fonts that are differen from the ones intended. When using colours use acalo” that is easy to read on the background. One also needs to be aware ofthe fact that thee se some accessibility norms that do not allow the use of certain colours, keeping in mind eolag blind people. Take care with rich text and HTML messages When sending an email in rich text or HTML format, be aware that the sender might be ble to receive only plain text emails. If this is the case, the recipient will receive the message sa .txt attachment. Most email clients, however, including Microsoft Outlook, are able to recive HTML and rich text messages. Do not use email to discuss confidential matters E Sending an email is like sending a postcard. Do not send confidential information by Moreover, never make any vilifying or discriminating comments in formal emails, even ifthey are meant to be jokes. Avoid using URGENT and IMPORTANT Cae Even more so than the high-priority option, try to avoid the use of words such as i Togo eer ee oni race cure ated message.wa we rommans UETTER® ee <0 + he a a anemail asking some doubts on a lesson. Instead of ust explaining fon furth® <0 lem, i708 mention ome oer wares that hese 0 “ sent Pye student wil dfnitely appreciate thi extra information re ean jgeand tothe point - ake an email longer than it needs to be. Remember that reading 42 nies é a printed communications and a long email ean be very discouragine r spelling, grammar, and punctuation prope! A ; because se forms of written communication, this is not only important— bee company al f As | Eamimar,and punctuation give a bad impression of the individual oF _ for youn re? -Ecental for conveying the message properly. For example, usin, wt or commas seep ectvey is inappropriate for formal messages. Mails with 0 fall oP or roam espesread and can sometimes even change the meaning of the ¢% o also write in CAPITALS pe go not WRITE IN CAPITALS IT SEEMS AS TF YOU ARE SHOUTING Th fore, yey agand might trigger an unwanted response in the form of aflame i se emallton ceria void long sentences jeep the sentences to a maximum of 15-20 words, Email is meant i ium robe a quick medit Tey ies a ind of writing diferent from leters d and use active instead of passive voice Ty to use the active voice ofa verb wherever posible. For instance, We will process your order Te sounds beter than "Your order wil be processed today’ The first sounds more personal, ‘whereas the latter, especially when used frequently, sounds unnecessarily formal. Keep your language gender-neutral {cis important to be gender-sensitive, Avoid using discriminatory language such as: “The user should add a signature by configuring his email program’. Apart from using he/she, you can. sponse che neutral gender: "The user should add a signature by configuring, the email program’. Maintain coherence \When replying to an email include the original mail in the reply, Click ‘Reply’, instead of ‘New Mail. Some people opine that the previous message must be removed since this has already teen sent and is therefore unnecessary. However, ifa person receives several emails, itis difficult ‘remember each individual email This means that 2'threadless email’ will not provide enough information and the recipient may have to spend a frustratingly long time to find out the Paar a gmp otred- 79 raetooe rae Reade tie ret ‘ ens % nase ae recipient much more time and frustration in looking for theSU TY 408 “Tecunicat comnunicarion Answer swiftly People send an email because they wish to receive a quick response. If they did noe mine response, they would send a letter or a fax. Therefore, each email should be replied go Wi atleast 24 hours, and preferably within the same working day. If the email ig complica, tin reply saying that the email has been received and that you will get back to them, This ite the reader's mind at rest and usually they will then be very patient, Will py Do not overuse reply all Use Reply All only ifyou really need your message to be seen by each person Who receive original message. th Use templates for frequently used responses Ifyou often tend to receive the same queries, such as directions to your office or how to subg to your newsletter, save your replies as response templates and paste these into Your message you need them. You can save your templates in a Word document, or use pre-formatted mai ) Even better is a tool such as Rephy/Mate for Outlook (allows you to use 10 templates for fre Use proper structure and layout Since reading from a screen is more difficult than reading from Paper, the structure and layout ge Yay important for email messages, Use short paragraphs and blank ines between, each pag ‘When making points, number them or mark each point as separate to keep the overview, Identify yourself and the topic Where possible, identify yourself on the From: line using your fall name rather than just emai address. For example, use ‘Amit Kumar Saxena’ [email protected] rather than just aks@vuedin, Recipients are more likely to respond if they can easily identify the sender.In addition, knowing whom a message is from helps the recipient put the message in context, © pat the end of the message, include an alternative way to be contacted (i, hone number, FAX, postal address) along with the name. This information can be provided ine signature fd that can be turned off for more personal emails. Providing contact information ray important when asking for an answer that is likely to be quite complex. Often, lee time is required to explain something complex over the phone or in person than to type out the message ‘The information in the subject line should be meaningful to the recipient as wel a the sender: For instance, when sending an email to a company requesting information about « Product, itis better to mention the actual name of the product, e.g, ‘Product A informe, than to just say ‘Product information’ or the company’s name in the subject. Answer all questions, and pre-empt further questions An email eply must answer all questions, and pre-empt further questions. If all the questionsin the original email ae not answered, it wll kel bring farther emails regarding the uanoned dusstons, which will not only waste the time of the sender and the recipient but aso cas wa Ertl: frustration. Moreover, if one is able to pre-empt relevant questions, the sak Jets Matefl and impressed with the senders efficiency and thoughtfulness, Image “avinc at an off campus dent ends you (assume that ou are a profesor of Ess