On an average, an employee receives over 300 emails in a week. An employee checks business emails 36 times in an hour while spending more than four hours per day on work-related emails. Successful employees follow best practices for business email that optimize time and resources. Managing business emails is key to ensuring productivity while minimizing distractions and time spent on handling unnecessary communication.
Eight best practices for business email
Subject line:
The larger the organization, the more the interaction between departments which can mean more emails. The most important email practice is to clearly specify the subject of each business email you send. A good subject line enables the recipient to understand what the email is about immediately.
It also helps the receiver retrieve the email when needed while also making it easy for you to refer or remind by quoting the subject line of the earlier email.
Professional email address:
When sending out a business email, it is important to always use the professional email address that is related to the company and not your personal email address. Using a personal address for writing a business email can come across as unprofessional.
Use professional greetings:
Even when you are familiar with business associates or colleagues at work, it is important to retain a professional tone when sending out a business email. Avoid informal greetings such as “hey” or “hi” and use “hello” instead.
Do not choose “reply all”:
A critical business email etiquette relates to avoiding choosing “reply all” when multiple people are copied in the original email. This not only clutters up the inboxes of the group but can be annoying for the person who does not need to receive your reply. Reply only to the concerned recipient to avoid spamming.
Some studies indicate 62 percent of business emails are not important while only 38 percent of them have relevant information. Given that 87 percent of employees check emails even during non-work hours, it is important to keep them relevant.
Proofread:
It is quite common for people to not pay attention to the grammar, spelling and sentence structure in a business email. Such errors can make the email look very unprofessional and creates a negative impression. Remember to always proofread your business email and ensure its appropriateness.
Don’t shout:
Successful employees are aware of the fact that business emails should not contain all caps. Using capital letters throughout the email will look like you are shouting at the recipient.
Save space:
If sending a large attachment in the email, always ask the recipient if he or she is okay with a large file. Compressing the email or zipping the file will help save space in the inbox.
Organize inbox:
One smart way to manage business emails better is to organize them into different folders and labeling each folder. This helps you retrieve any email when needed. Unsubscribing from emails that are not wanted and blocking spam are some ways to avoid inbox clutter. You can also use an efficient email management software to sort and delegate emails.