The Daily Bulletin Archive

The Professional Development Center will publish a four-part series on proper e-mail etiquette techniques over the next few weeks. Part 1 appears below. It is important to remain professional in college communications both to appear competent and because e-mail is not a secure medium and can easily be intercepted. When employees understand e-mail etiquette, they are less likely to put the college at risk. Here are five rules to consider:*

1. Don't Write in ALL CAPITALS
   Writing in capitals can convey shouting in a message, and nobody likes to be yelled at. Consider other ways to get your message across while conveying its importance. Using all capitals can be annoying and can trigger an unintended response.
2. Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) Recipients or Use a Mail Merge
   When sending e-mail to multiple recipients, people sometimes place all addresses in the To: field. If the recipient list is large, this forces readers to scroll through a long list of e-mail addresses before they can read the message. On a smartphone, this can be extra irritating. In addition, all recipients may not want their e-mail addresses published for everyone to see. You can avoid both these issues by using the BCC: field instead, or using a program like Outlook to run a mail merge that sends a unique message to each person on your list (E-mail Mail Merge using Outlook).
3. Do Not Use E-mail to Discuss Confidential Information
   E-mail messages are easy to copy, print, and forward. Do not use e-mail to convey confidential information. Even if the e-mail isn’t forwarded on to someone else, management can easily intercept inappropriate e-mail. Moreover, campus e-mail is governed by the Buffalo State Policy on the Use of Electronic Resources (PDF) and should be reserved for the "efficient exchange of information and the completion of assigned responsibilities consistent with the mission of the college."
4. Take Care with Abbreviations and Emoticons
   Save abbreviations like LOL (laugh out loud) or IDK (I don’t know) for text messages among friends. Some readers may not understand abbreviations. And while emoticons are fun, they are not professional and may be misinterpreted. As with abbreviations, readers may not know what emoticons mean. Spell out all words in your professional communication and write what you mean.
5. Don't Request Delivery or Read Receipts
   This will often annoy recipients before they even read your message. Besides, it usually does not work; recipients can block that function or their software might not support it. If you want to know whether an e-mail was received, ask the recipient to let you know directly.

* Excerpted and adapted from Andrew Dunlop, vice president of web services for DynaSis Integrated Systems.