HR Soapbox Blog

(Published July 27, 2009)

Business correspondence is going to hell in a handbasket. Everyone today uses e-mail rather than actual, old-fashioned business letters, which would be fine if only e-mail wasn't treated like an electronic sticky note system. It shouldn't take the skill of a Hemingway to write an effective business e-mail…and yet, so few people seem to have mastered it. Maybe they just don't care. But they should, because every time they send out a poorly crafted e-mail, they create a bad impression of themselves and their employer.

If I sound like a cranky old schoolmarm on this topic, I apologize. I'm not saying you're supposed to spend hours constructing an electronic literary masterpiece. But you should treat a business e-mail message as though it's being typed out as formal business correspondence on your company's letterhead.

Here are some rules of thumb to help infuse professionalism into overly casual business e-mails. (And yes, I'll admit that I, too, have broken each of these rules on more than one occasion — I'm only human!)

• Never leave the subject line blank. If the addressee doesn't know what the e-mail's about, he/she might very well skip past it or delete it without reading it. Plus, some spam filters view blank-subject e-mails with suspicion, so your brilliantly written e-mail might get bounced back if it lacks a title. Almost as bad: Using ALL CAPS in the subject line, WHICH IS LIKE SHOUTING AT THE READER. ANNOYING, ISN'T IT?
  
  (I won't even discuss those cretins who still use all caps in the body of the message itself — basically, the e-mail etiquette equivalent of knocking on someone's door only to throw a bucket of sewage on them when they answer. Don't do it.)
  
  
• Consider the salutation. Think back to seventh or eighth grade language arts class, when you were taught to write a business letter. (Ring any bells? Never mind, keep reading.) When you were addressing a person you didn't know, you were taught to write "Dear Mr. Smith," or "Dear Ms. Jones," right? Not "Hi, John," or "Hey, Mary." So why should business e-mails be any different?
  
  Okay, I'll draw the line at insisting you use "To Whom It May Concern" when you don't know the person's name — I always hated that one! Instead, try addressing the employer or department — "Dear Adams Company" or "Dear Human Resources Department." Also, I do follow the other person's lead — if they've addressed an e-mail to me using my first name, I then feel free to do the same back.
  
  
• Refrain from using emoticons and text shorthand — OMG! These reek of immaturity. Confession time: I have been known to substitute "Thx" for "Thanks" or "dunno" for "I don't know," but only in short, internal e-mails to co-workers I have a friendly relationship with. I would never take such liberties in my e-mail correspondence to higher-ups or to the HR managers and consultants I collaborate with on my newsletter articles.
  
  
• Don't forget your closing. Again, think back to those formal business letters. You don't want your e-mail to just contain one or two blunt sentences stating what you want and then leave the reader hanging. Conclude by thanking the person (for their time, efforts, patience, whatever), then use an appropriate sign-off (e.g., "Thanks again," "Best regards," "Sincerely") that matches the tone of the rest of the e-mail. Essential: Put your name and contact information after the sign-off.
  
  
• Run spell check, at the very least. If it's an "important" e-mail (i.e., to a customer or vendor, to an exec), also proofread the entire e-mail carefully to catch those silly little slip-ups you inevitably find right after you hit "send." (I myself always manage to create typos that are real words, which spell check won't catch — like accidentally substituting "of" for "on" or "if.") 

Now let's see how many of you follow these rules in your replies to this blog post! ;-P (Sorry, I couldn't resist breaking my own rule!) 

Eileen Mager
Writer