« How to stop bullying in the workplace | Main | Do you mask who you are at work? »

Email anatomy

Your email address
What does it say about you? Do most in your organization use one convention and you use something else? A business email address should be professional. Even personal email addresses can appear capricious when you need to be respectful.

When I created a Gmail account, I was pleased that Google offered suggestions using my initials and given name and surname for my address. If you want to know how many people in the United States have your name, (according to this Web site) try How Many of Me? at http://howmanyofme.com/

What the copy (Cc) line means
I want you to know what’s going on, even though you probably don’t have to do anything. When you email people outside your organization, make it clear why you’ve copied someone, i.e. I’ve copied Flora who …..

Subject line—always use it and make it quality
Make it informative. ‘Marketing team meeting Nov. 2’ is better than ‘Meeting’. Good words to use: Info, Action, Request. Subject lines should be updated over the course of an email correspondence.
The entire message may be in the subject line. You may add EOM (end of message) after the brief message that’s totally in the subject line.

Avoid all of these—urgent, notify sender, follow-up flag
Your email should speak for itself.

“Dear” is always acceptable and always correct.
When writing to a group, salutations such as “Dear Colleagues”, “Dear Coworkers” and “Dear Friends’ are acceptable.
When sending email to colleagues you frequently work with, a greeting is not needed because the message is understood to be part of an ongoing conversation. The same goes for a close friend.

The book ‘The Hamster Revolution: How to Manage Your E-Mail Before it Manages You’ advocates a structure of ABC. A is the action summary, the next steps with time elements. B is background, bullet points of the information the recipient needs. C is close with a personal message or the future of the project.
Use acronyms, abbreviations and emoticons sparingly. Would the recipient understand them?

“Best,” “All best,” “Best regards,” “Best wishes,” “Regards,” “Sincerely,” “Cordially,” “Sincerely yours” and “Yours” are all traditional complimentary closings. “Sincerely” is the coldest of the group, appropriate when writing to someone you don’t know well. This is a part of the tone of your message so select a closing for appropriate formality or informality. “As ever” is a nice closing.

Quotes, adages, axioms and morals in email signatures
'A Friend Is Someone Who Senses How To Sign Off an Email', The Wall Street Journal Online,

Primary source: ‘Send: The Essential Guide to Email for Office and Home’ by David Shipley and Will Schwalbe, published April 2007


Maybe I am the only one, but I did not think "sincerely" was a "cold" closing to an e-mail.

I have never used "As Ever" to end an e-mail or a personal letter. Is it used a lot in the business world??
To me, "Best Regards" is a friendly, professional ending to an e-mail to a business associate.

Just my thoughts....
Sincerely, (whoops! Best Regards)

Efficiency rules. I have my "reply" signature set to "Thanks! Becky" 'cause it saves typing 13 characters, and I don't forget to sign stuff--in fact, when I'm getting tons of stuff from the counties, those two words are all I need to confirm that I received the file.

Anyway, it makes Krysta giggle when I forget to turn it off in my emails to her...