Improve Your Email Game: Part Two

In the first section of this two-part blog post on professional emails, we tackled how to determine whether your message is email-worthy and how to set the right tone. In the second part, we’ll go through additional etiquette and tips to help you improve your communication game—whether it’s your first office job or you’re a seasoned pro looking to advance your applicable job skills.

To emoji or not to emoji

Common rule of thumb is to avoid using emojis in professional business emails. However, if you’re on a more friendly basis with your co-worker or supervisor and the workplace culture allows it, an appropriately placed smiley face is usually acceptable in more casual communication.

Always cc with care

We’re all busy, and streams of incoming email can be daunting. Think twice before cc’ing someone who really doesn’t need the information. By not overwhelming people with email, they’ll pay more attention to the messages you do send. On a similar note, consider whether you need to “reply all” to a message or if the original sender is the only person that needs a response. (Avoid being the person that unnecessarily hits “reply all” to a mass communication email.)

Check the recipient(s)

Write the email before filling out the recipient block—this will help you avoid accidently sending an incomplete email to your supervisor or a potential client. Complete a final check of the email addresses of all recipients before hitting send to avoid accidently sending a confidential correspondence to the wrong person. (Large organizations may have multiple people with similar names, and their emails may appear similar—so always double check!)

Avoid using unconventional fonts and colours

Although it may be fun to embellish your emails with fancy fonts and fun colours, it may come across as unprofessional. If you need to draw attention to an important point in your email, use the highlighter function or bold the text. Likewise, the recipient of your email may have a visual barrier that makes it difficult to read certain fonts or coloured texts. To aid those who are visually impaired, use easy-to-read sans serif fonts—such as Arial or Calibri—and use standard black text.

Open and close with style

When choosing your opening and closing words, professional but friendly usually does the trick. While you might start a formal message with Dear _____, you can usually use Hello, Hi or another more casual greeting instead.

Closings can be tricky, and what works for one person (and one message) may not work for all. All the best, Sincerely, Thank you, Thanks, Regards, and even Cheers are all perfectly acceptable. Pick a closing that is professional, but still suits you.

And finally, perfect your signature

Use a standard signature block to make your emails a little more official. The title displayed in your signature block can validate the message, advice or decision conveyed in your email. Also, if you’re not as familiar with the recipient, a signature gives them the information they need to put your message in context, and it makes it easy for them to reach you in the future.

Include your full name, title and company, as well as your phone number(s). Although the recipient will already have your email address from having received your message, it doesn’t hurt to repeat it here. Additional notes or details on a signature block may vary depending on your organization, so review the standard practice at your office and modify your signature based on those expectations.

If you haven’t already checked it out, you can read Improve Your Email Game: Part One.