Uncle Patrick’s (Useless or Useful, you decide) Tip of the Day - 7 Deadly Sins of Email

I know I’m guilty, and almost everyone is, of committing one of the “7 Deadly Sins of Email”. Here’s a great article and a must-use guideline for what to include in the emails you send…

Seven Deadly Sins of Email

Oh, and they missed a few and there’s a couple I’d like to expound upon…

CAPS LOCK IS NOT OK - your voice can’t be heard online so you must use your vocabulary to inflect different “volume” in your online voice - CAPS LOCK is the equivalent of shouting.

Don’t forward chain e-mail messages. Not only do you lose control over who sees your e-mail address, but you also may be furthering a hoax or aiding in the delivery of a virus. Plus, there are reports that spammers start chain letters expressly to gather e-mail addresses. If you don’t know whether a message is a hoax or not, a site like Hoaxbusters can help you separate fact from fiction. I Google a few keywords within the email and normally find it’s a hoax.

Don’t immediately reply if upset - take time to reflect on your response to emails, rather than immediately sending your reply. According to Karen Martin, HR Consultant and author of corporate email policies, “Since email messages are instant communications, it is easy to respond too quickly. It is usually best to wait before using e-mail to deal with a situation that contains any emotionalism. Smart “emailers” allow their emails and email replies to ‘age’ several hours or overnight before re-reading the message and sending it.” Make sure that you review your emails, revising if necessary to soften the tone, remove emotion or to make sure your message won’t be misconstrued. Check for and modify terse or confusing language, and don’t introduce new subjects before replying to the original subject.

Don’t use sarcasm - Humor may not be well communicated via electronic mail (e-mail). There are no nonverbal cues from which other people can infer any underlying meaning to your message; and CAPS LOCK only makes matters worse if combined.

Spell Check - The company that designed your email client put a lot of time into their “Spell Checker” - take advantage of their hard work and keep yourself from looking like 4th grader when you write.

Reply to Senders - I’m the worst, although lately I’ve been putting a lot of effort into quickly responding - if someone sends you an email, respond to them. You don’t have to send a 2 page follow-up, but many times the sender is looking for a response and expecting an answer.