For as much I sometimes fantasize about unplugging the computer and tossing my crackberry, I can’t imagine life without e-mail. I have some serious gripes, though, about people’s etiquette.

My Top 5 Email Gripes

1). Use Your Manners
Good manners are as important in email communication as they are in any other form of interaction, maybe even more so since we don’t have the added advantage of observing body language or listening for tone. Remember to say please and thank you and unless we’ve been firing back and forth throughout the day working on a project, don’t send an e-mail to me that doesn’t include a greeting. Even if you’re mad at me, at least have the courtesy to start out with, "Dear Jack Ass."  "Hey Tricia" also works just fine.

2). Tell Me What You Want
If you are requesting a meeting with me, include the topic or reason in your e-mail.
I used to have a boss who routinely sent messages that did not include a salutation, never included any type of sign-off, and they were always abrupt and rarely indicated what she wanted. I’d get things like…

I need to see you immediately. Contact my secretary to get on my schedule.

Of course as soon as I’d read the message I’d start feeling as if I’d been summoned to the Principal’s office and would wonder if someone in the HR department was secretly preparing a letter of termination. Most often, my boss didn’t want to hand my head to me on a silver platter, she just had a question, wanted my help with something, or needed to share some new information with me. Instead of pounding out the above message, if she had taken the time to tell me what she wanted, I’d not have spent the next several hours or days thinking about re-writing my resume.

Tricia,
I have an idea about XYZ project and would like to discuss it with you as soon as possible. Please contact my secretary to set up a meeting.

Thanks,
The Boss

3). Use the Subject Line Field
It takes three seconds to type something into your subject line. If you don’t, one of two things will happen…the subject field will fill with the text you’ve written in the beginning of your email, or the subject field will be blank and I may think your computer has a virus and I’ll delete your message without opening it, especially if you’ve included an attachment.

4). TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK
Really…I can’t believe I even need to say this, but there are still people out there who think it’s OK to write an email in all caps. It’s not OK. When I read your message, it really does feel like someone is shouting at me. We’ve been talking about this since the beginning of time…cyber time anyway, and I don’t want to discuss it anymore. Please stop.

5). Don’t Forward Your Junk Mail
We are all inundated with email and it’s hard enough to keep up with personal and professional correspondence in a timely manner. I don’t have the time or the inclination to read your junk mail…I get enough of my own. If you’re going to forward something to me it better be good, it better be true, and you better be confident the content is going to either make me cry or make me laugh out loud.

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