E-mail etiquette for the office

Everyone who uses e-mail to communicate in the corporate world keeps messages brief and professional. But most of us have received an e-mail that may come across as unprofessional, curt, or even offensive. Without face-to-face contact, e-mails can be easily misunderstood. Worse, they can drag perfectly reasonable people into a game of cyberspace mud slinging.

Why do some people let it all hang out in their e-mail communication -- the good, bad and the ugly? According to Dr. Jack O'Regan, dean of the College of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences at Argosy University, there is an actual psychological effect behind this phenomenon.

"We all make various decisions in our daily lives and most are done with some level of governance," says Dr. O'Regan. "The issue people face is really a 'disinhibition effect' where, due to the interpersonal nature of e-mail, the user often does not use the same levels of governance on appropriateness that you would have in other forms of communications. Once the user presses send, it's gone and that's it".

"In today's e-mail culture, people are so used to interacting through e-mail messages in a certain way that many don't think of it as unprofessional and they are often very upfront and in your face," he adds.

"Since humans communicate a huge amount of information non-verbally, using sarcasm or 'humor' in an e-mail can be easily misinterpreted," says Chad Ness, Director of Technology and Facilities for The Art Institutes International Minnesota.

Ness says that in social e-mails, when people joke, or use sarcasm, they may use a graphic or icon like a smiley face to indicate a wink or a nod. But in corporate e-mail communication, smiley faces are frowned upon, so those visual nuances aren't easily communicated. "A good rule of thumb," advises Ness, "is don't say in an e-mail what you wouldn't say to someone in person".

"Absolutely avoid anything offensive, racist, libelous, or defamatory," he urges. "It may seem obvious, but the courts are full of case histories of companies that have paid out huge penalties because of one person's thoughtless moment".

Ness has a few easy guidelines for keeping business e-mails the professional, courteous and timesaving tool they are intended to be.

Start with the basics. When should you send an e-mail? "Generally, you'll want to send an e-mail when you want to communicate information to large numbers of people, you want a written record of communications, or you can't reach someone on the phone and don't want to tie-up a voice mail machine with a long message," he says. "On the flip side, you should avoid e-mail when you need an immediate reply, the conversation will require a lot of back and forth, or the conversation should be kept private".

Other do's and don'ts for e-mail in the corporate world include:

* Use an appropriate subject line. Make sure it contains clear information about what you are communicating.

* Make your e-mails as short and to the point as possible. Many people receive more than 100 e-mails a day and don't want to spend time reading unnecessary details. If you need to, use bullets.

* Reply to an e-mail as soon as possible. In this day and age, 24 hours (or one business day for work e-mails) is the longest any e-mail should sit.

* Avoid forwarding other people's discussions or attachments, without their permission. Problems can occur when something written for one person's eyes was mistakenly sent to a person who took offense.

* Keep in mind that e-mail is not a secure medium. Confidential company information should not normally be sent over the Internet.

Last but not least, here are some annoying e-mail habits you should get rid of:

* Using all capitals. This is considered shouting in the world of e-mail.

* Reading receipts on all your e-mails. Save this feature for an important internal communication that must go to everyone.

* Unnecessarily including "URGENT!!!" in the subject line. The recipient should consider your e-mail important simply because you took the time to write it.

If you keep these points in mind, your e-mails can be a vital tool in the workplace.