Yesterday I led a brown-bag lunch session, Email Intelligence, for a very intelligent group in Seattle. They came up with eight new rules of email etiquette to add to my standard list. Click here to download that list.
The group offered these excellent suggestions:
- Create an automatic reply to let people know when you are away from the office. That way, people won’t be waiting days for your response. Be sure to turn off the automatic reply when you return.
- Set an expiration date for messages that will be irrelevant after a certain date or time. (This feature of Microsoft Outlook appears under Options/Options:Delivery Options when you are writing a new message or a reply.)
- Avoid using a long automatic signature for replies. To create a short automatic signature for replies in Microsoft Outlook, go to Tools/Options/Mail Format/Signatures. Click Signatures. Click New. Name your new signature. Then follow the instructions.
- Use the Outlook calendar–not email–to announce events and schedule appointments. When you use email without the calendar, your readers must take the extra step of adding the information to their calendars.
- Avoid the word immediately to indicate an urgent deadline. Your reader may have other “immediate” tasks. Phone or email to find out how soon the other person can handle your “immediate” need.
- Use the Outlook ! (red exclamation mark flag) judiciously–that is, only for messages that are important and urgent.
- Assume your message won’t be read immediately.
- Assume your message will be forwarded.
If you attended the Email Intelligence session, you know who you are. Thank you for these valuable, practical suggestions!
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