Outlook Best Practices: Writing Professional Emails

From ITS Wiki

“Write great e-mail”… If you “google” the term you’ll find numerous articles and opinions. The following is a combination of some of those. Consider these suggestions the next time you click on that new message icon.

Basic rules of great, professional e-mail…the dos

1. Read your message before you send it.

2. Make your subject descriptive and action-oriented. For example, "ITS: Please send your symposium ideas," where ITS is the name of the group, and "Please send" is the action. Other useful prefixes include "FYI:" and "Action Required."

3. If action is required, state what you want on the Subject line.

4. Change the subject of the message if the topic of the conversation changes.

5. Keep all messages short and to the point.

6. Organize the content of your message from most important to least.

7. Consider bolding important information.

8. Put action items or questions on separate lines so that they stand out and get noticed.

9. Bold people's names when asking questions. For example: Ryan: What is the status of the project?

10. Limit the number of people to whom you send the message to those who need to read it. Put people who need to be informed on the Cc line. Put people who need to respond or take action on the To line.

11. Use a signature when appropriate, but keep your signature simple, short, professional and, if possible, free of graphics.

12. If you want an immediate response, don't send e-mail. Phone or send an instant message.

13. If you are on an e-mail conversation that has more than 10 messages back and forth without a resolution, consider phoning or setting up a meeting to discuss and resolve the issue. E-mail is not always an efficient medium for resolving complex issues.

14. Acknowledge messages that require a more extensive response. If you are too busy to respond with a full answer right away, let the sender know that you are looking into the issue and will respond by a certain time or date. Flag it for yourself to do later.

15. Use “High Importance” sparingly.

16. If you are asking a question and there are several people who could respond, choose just one person, rather than sending it to the group.

Basic rules of great e-mail (at work): The don'ts

1. Don't use stationery…save that for emails to family and friends.

2. Don't send e-mail when you are angry. Better to write it, save it to your drafts folder, and come back to it later.

3. Don't expect a quick response when sending long e-mail messages (over two paragraphs).

4. Don't send a follow up message less than a day after the first message. If you don't hear back in a timely manner, try using the telephone or instant messaging.

5. Don't use read receipts or delivery receipts on every message you send. Use them only if you are unsure whether your recipients will receive the message.

6. Don't attach flags on every message you send. Your recipients will learn to ignore them.

7. Don't use ALL CAPS. Use italic text instead.

8. Don't send attachments when it’s possible to send links instead. This rule applies especially to meeting requests, where attachments can contribute significantly to your and your recipients' server quotas.

9. Don't use sarcasm. Your humor may be misunderstood.

10. Don't write something you wouldn't want everyone in your organization to read.

11. Don't use cursive or "funny" fonts that are difficult to read.

12. Don't send a Reply to All to a distribution list asking to be removed. Ever.