E-Mail Business Rules

When we converse, we expect other people to observe certain rules of behavior. The same is true for e-mail, the most popular form of online communication. Here are a few pointers to help you communicate more effectively.This is particularly true at work. These days everyone receives too much e-mail. Unnecessary messages are annoying. If only a few people really need to receive your message, only direct it to them. Similarly, when responding to e-mail, do not respond to all recipients. By choosing Reply to All or a similar button when responding to a message, you may end up broadcasting your response to your entire company. Use BCCs (Blind Carbon Copies) when addressing a message to a group of people who don't necessarily know each other. Just as it's not polite to give out a person's telephone number without his or her knowledge, it's not polite to broadcast everyone's e-mail address. For instance, when you send a message to 30 people and use the To or CC fields to address the message, all 30 people see each other's address. By using BCC, each recipient sees only to theirs and yours. The same applies for sending an email newsletter. Just follow the rules. More on next post.