CareerNews
			Inbox indiscretion Have some e-respect Ask the senders permission Answer me KNOW! Quality not quantity Getting a positive message across Keep your moods to yourself

Email has now evolved as a major channel of communication in both our work and home lives. Never could maintaining regular contact with friends, relatives and work colleagues be so simple and efficient, and even cost-effective.

Email solves so many problems that now we almost take it for granted, and that is the point that needs to be made here. We do take email for granted which also means that 9 times out of ten when we write an email we most likely fail to give the email the attention that it deserves.

We just don't think carefully enough about the content, context, style and tone of what we write, taking for granted that the recipient will know exactly what the jumbled garble we write will mean when it arrives in their inbox.

Communication between humans is roughly 90% body language, 8% tone of voice and 2% what you say. So think carefully, as with email the first 98% is redundant.

Inbox Indiscretion
Perhaps most significant is the fact that email really is an everyday part of our office lives, but even more significant is that sending or receiving inappropriate or clumsy emails from work can start off as simple office ridicule but can also eventually end up with a severe slap on the wrists or even disciplinary action.

We have (surely) all heard of Messrs. Swire and Chait whose sexual antics must have reached the majority of the internet population in a matter of days once Chait hit send. It suffices to say that neither party survived unpunished - this is something that many firms take a very dim view on.

OK…so let's put things in perspective here, the chances of you becoming a global email tyrant on the back of a minor blunder are very slim. But as Swire and Chait discovered, using office email clumsily can prove to be a brick wall in front of your plans for career advancement.

This is why Jobsite has assembled a few pointers on how to make the most of email while keeping your head above water.

Have some e-respect
While so many of us are aware of the great advantages that using email can bring we also overlook the fact that it can bring disaster.

Office email culture has all too easily taken away the element of face-to-face interactivity, especially when it comes to breaking bad news or even just the day-to-day management of employees. It is now far too easy for managers and personnel of a similar stature to write in an email something that they sadly don't have the courage to say in person.

What is the effect of this you may ask yourself..Well it can be extremely damaging because eye contact is reality and without eye contact, tone of voice and body language, the message can come across far more severely than with those crucial elements, or in a manner that is totally unintended.

Ask the sender's permission
Just clicking on the forward button is very simple, but who's to say that the sender didn't intend the email for your eyes only, so to be on the safe side it is better to check with the sender before you start distributing their messages.

In the same vein, if somebody sends you certain information or ideas by email then try to assume that it is private and therefore you have not been granted a licence to spread it around. Rule Number 1 for sensitive email information is that you must assume that almost any email that you send will be read by someone other than its intended recipient(s).

Also, if you want to email a large number of people then remember that people are unlikely to give your message the attention that you feel it deserves if there are hundreds of email addresses pasted into the 'cc' field of your email software.

Far more likely to get a good response is if you use the 'bcc' (blind carbon copy) field instead, as this will ensure that each person will only see their own email address on your message.

Send it to the people that matter, and keep the jokes to yourself

In a similar context remember that 'cc: ing' emails about the company's new advertising slogan to an administrator in reception is of no great value whatsoever.

Another golden rule to consider here is that you should really leave humour out, as email is not a tried and tested medium for stand-up comedy!

Your favourite joke of the day is not going to be best received by everyone in the office as the chances are that they won't all share your sense of humour, and will eventually lose respect and will refuse to ever open any of your emails ever again.

Answer me…NOW!
Although email is an extremely fast way of getting a message to its desired destination, this is not a guarantee that you will get an immediate reply. Remember that when business is involved people not only have meetings, travel commitments and appointments but they also have their own lives to lead and will inevitably take the occasional holiday.

Quality not Quantity
Email wasn't designed so that you can distribute your own amended version of 'War and Peace' either. Email is a form of contact that is best served by being relatively brief. Should you need to send a longer email than usual then it would be advisable to back-up the message with a phone call - as relying on email to communicate all the details will more often than not, not be enough.

Even if you have to send over a longer email, perhaps a brief for a project, then assume that the recipient will be using the email as a 'hard copy' but they will also appreciate a phone call to go through the finer details, ensuring they are happy with what you have sent.

And use paragraphs as it is not only much easier on the eye, but far easier to read.

Getting a positive message across
Remember that email will on occasion be the first and only point of contact that you have with other people. Getting a positive message across without a context is always going to be a problem, and more often than not it will go straight in the 'trash' folder. Always use your emails subject line to make it clear what the email is about.

You should also always include a greeting and an electronic signature in the body of your emails: if you do this then those people that are forwarded or cc:ed the email will have a clearer idea of where the original message came from.

Make sure that you also thoroughly check grammar and spelling before you hit 'send', as poor spelling and even misspelling the names of colleagues and clients is not going to ensure their undivided attention.

Keep your moods to yourself
Saying things to friends and colleagues that you regret is one thing if you do it in person, because at least you'll have the chance to make the point and argue it if it's warranted.

Sending emails when you're in a foul mood is another thing altogether. As we all know, email is an immediate channel of communication, so it can be very easy to make a hasty reply more often than not without actually reading the entirity of the email that you have received.

If you are in a bad mood this can be a grave miscalculation of judgement. You can write the email as fast as you want but try and refrain from hitting 'send ' immediately. Why not try and refrain from hitting send, instead mull over it for a while as you cool off, then make some appropriate changes.

This also applies to the emails that you receive. Try and consider the possibility that you are not quite in sync with their grasp of language, or maybe they were a little too hasty when composing their mail, so re-read it and be open-minded about your own interpretation.

Know when to put down the mouse and pick up the phone

Finally, bear in mind that email really is extremely convenient, and more often than not you will be using it when a phone call will be equally, if not more suitable.