Blog General Ode to Emily Post
Ode to Emily Post
Written by Joanna Bergdoll Wednesday, 28 July 2010 00:00
Email Etiquette
When my eldest sister got married, her mother-in-law followed everyone around with a copy of Emily Post’s etiquette book, pointing out mistakes and correcting our errors in etiquette. To say the very least, this was really obnoxious and increased the tension in an already overwhelming situation. While I appreciate good manners and mourn this lost art, this was a bit over the top. Remembering this got me thinking about etiquette and the loss of manners in today’s society. With so much time spent online nowadays, it appropriate to share a few pointers on maintaining good manners in business communication. Just as there were certain societal guidelines for letter-writing when Emily Post published her first edition in 1922, there are still some great guidelines to prevent offense and help you save face in your present-day communications. Here are some tips to prevent you from receiving a pink slip, or at the very lest, help you from embarrassing yourself:
- Remember, when using your company-provided email address (or computer), all communications are property of your employer and could be subject to review.
- Don’t send personal emails from your work account.
- For goodness sakes, use SPELLCHECK.
- OK, the next rule, which I just broke, is don’t write in all capital letters – it is the email equivalent to SHOUTING.
- Don’t attach unnecessary files to your messages.
- Don’t forward offensive, racist, obscene, or even slightly off-color messages.
- Include an appropriate subject line in email messages. (Some people receive hundreds of messages each day and need to be able to prioritize based on subject.)
- Reply to a message and include the message thread instead of creating a new message – the recipient will be able to recall what you are talking about. (Reference #7.)
- Don’t reply to a message when you are angry – that’s what the draft was created for. Write your message, cool down, and then re-read before you get click the Send button.
- Lastly, READ YOUR EMAIL or message before you send it. (OK I broke Rule #4 again, but this is really important.)
While not many people today may even know who Emily Post was or care about manners in general, just remember that the old saying is true, “you catch more flies with honey than vinegar.”
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