My co-worker and I had worked together fairly well until recently.  On several occasions, I asked what was wrong and got the typical “nothing” response but his behavior toward me said otherwise.  When I finally got up the guts to confront him about the problem, he said he was sick and tired of me yelling at him.  Seems that ever since I started using all CAPITALS in my emails so they would be more readable he’s interpreted that as shouting at him.  Do you believe it?

The reality is that WRITING IN CAPITALS IS READ AS IF YOU ARE SHOUTING BY MANY PEOPLE.  The same is true for underlining and bolding which can also be seen as aggressive.

While use of email is a common business practice, training or guidelines on how to use it properly are not so common.  Therefore, each person is left to their own devices, leaving the door wide open for misinterpretation.  A few important rules for email etiquette will help you use this communication tool more effectively.

Be professional.  Because email is a quick and less formal method of communication, it’s easy to get careless and forget common courtesies such as a greeting.  When you’re using it to communicate in the business world it needs to be just as professional and courteous as other business communication.

Read it before you send it.  It can take little effort to type up a quick email and hit “Send”, but we all know good communication is hardly effortless.  Not only do you want to read it to proof for spelling and grammatical errors; reading it as though you were the receiver will help you to make your message more effective and avoid misunderstandings.

Make sure it’s the right method.  Email may be the most popular way of communicating in business but that doesn’t mean it’s always the best way.  Misunderstandings and miscommunication can result in damage to working relationships, wasted time, and loss of productivity.  To deliver a personal, sensitive, or complicated message usually a face-to-face conversation, phone call, or a meeting is a better choice.  And don’t use email to express something you wouldn’t say in person.  While it’s tempting to “let someone have it” with your fingers when you’re upset, not only is your message likely to be misunderstood there will also be a written record of your outburst.

A little etiquette will go a long way toward improving your email communication.