21 Do’s and Don’ts to Improve Your Email

Don’t Knock Twice – Don’t email someone and then walk down the hall and say, “I just sent you an email.” Pick one channel of communication.

Don’t Play Email Ping-Pong – Avoid the back-and-forth email conversation. If you have to reply more than twice, you should probably pick up the phone and call the individual. Email is not a good medium for conversations.

Don’t Play Email Ping-Pong – Avoid the back-and-forth email conversation. If you have to reply more than twice, you should probably pick up the phone and call the individual. Email is not a good medium for conversations.

Don’t Use Silly Fonts or Colors – Writing your message in fancy fonts just makes it unreadable. Colored fonts are just as bad. Keep it simple.

DON’T USE ALL CAPS – NO ONE WANTS TO BE YELLED AT IN ALL CAPS. DON’T WRITE YOUR EMAILS IN ALL CAPS.

Do Lose the Signature – You don’t need a long and drawn out signature with images, social share icons, and your favorite quote. If you must have one, keep it simply your contact info and nothing more.

Don’t Send Criticism via Email – Praising via email is good. (Although in person is better.) However, sending negative information can easily be mis-interpreted by the recipient. Even constructive comments can be misunderstood as flame mail.

Don’t Broadcast Your Location – No one needs to know where you are writing your email from. You don’t look cool by having “Sent from my Smartphone” or sent from my iPad. Remove these silly messages from your emails.

Don’t Send Time Sensitive Info – Email is the new snail mail. It is not instantaneous. Don’t expect immediate responses to your messages. In fact, you should give recipients at least a day to address your message. If you need a quicker answer, use a quicker communication method. (Text, phone, etc.)

Don’t Shuffle Your Work – Email has become the modern version of “paper pushing.” Don’t simply forward your work to others via email.