Email Etiquette

[buckeyebri]

I am curious as to what the Planet thinks in regards to email etiquette, more specifically from a business use perspective. What are the rules of engagement for email or are there any rules at all?

1. If you email a client or colleague relative to a business/work scenario what are their responsibilities in responding?
2. Given that they respond, what is an appropriate time frame for response?
3. Are there certain day-to-day business items that should or should not be email conversations?
4. Email etiquette in general that you follow?

Thoughts.....discussion

 

[colobuck79]

I don't mean to derail, but I have some clients that send emails and if I don't respond in 2 minutes they immediately call me to ask me if I have read their email. This happens at least 5 times a day. Something that should increase efficiency ends up having the opposite effect. It really cuts into my time surfing this board. Seriously, I think it is reasonable to expect a response in one day, but most people lack that kind of patience and expectations are for a much quicker response. [old man mode] Gone are the days when you dropped a draft report in the mail and 7 days later you received comments back in the mail. I long for those days. [/old man mode]

 

[dav713]

I don't mean to derail, but I have some clients that send emails and if I don't respond in 2 minutes they immediately call me to ask me if I have read their email. This happens at least 5 times a day. Something that should increase efficiency ends up having the opposite effect. It really cuts into my time surfing this board. Seriously, I think it is reasonable to expect a response in one day, but most people lack that kind of patience and expectations are for a much quicker response. [old man mode] Gone are the days when you dropped a draft report in the mail and 7 days later you received comments back in the mail. I long for those days. [/old man mode]

Yea, a day is reasonable to respond. If it's going to take longer than that (eg it is a project or something), you should respond acknowledging receipt of the email within a day so they know it didn't get put into the spam filter or snuck in the internets tubes. If you're out of reach, put an automatic response notice on your email.

 

[bucks4me]

1. Respond as soon as you can get to it. Definitely respond within a day to let them know you received their email even if you need more time to formulate a true response to the content of the email. If you have someone that you KNOW will call you within 2 minutes of your receiving the email I would start emailing them back as soon as you receive the email to tell them, "I have received your email and will send you the requested information after consideration (or research, etc.)." This lets them know that you will get to it in your own time.



3. Know your audience - Try not to be playful or make offhand comments in emails. These can come back to bite you later on or make the recipient uncomfortable or angry or some reaction other than what you intended.

 

[buckiprof]

Yea, a day is reasonable to respond. If it's going to take longer than that (eg it is a project or something), you should respond acknowledging receipt of the email within a day so they know it didn't get put into the spam filter or snuck in the internets tubes. If you're out of reach, put an automatic response notice on your email.

I have been using email since 1990 (man I feel old) and the one day rule has been something I have followed for 22 years now.

For me, email (and its etiquette) is interesting. Tone of the email is something I am always cognizant of and I feel many ignore the tone aspect.

Timeliness is quite important to me as it pertains to my online students. Email is our primary means of communication and I lay out in the syllabus certain guidelines. Guidelines such as in the title, identify your email as being from the specific online course. Begin the email by identifying yourself and clearly state your question(s). I also tell them that they will get a response from me within 24 hours, unless it is the weekend then it may be a little longer than 24 hours. This type of structure for them obviously helps me but I also feel that I am giving them some decent "etiquette" type rules in general.

Over the years, I tend to reply to all meaningful emails within 24 hours...either to simply say that I received it and will get back to them when I have more time, or to give the reply that is necessary. I don't consider that "etiquette" as much as simple common courtesy.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

I don't mean to derail, but I have some clients that send emails and if I don't respond in 2 minutes they immediately call me to ask me if I have read their email.

If you have someone that you KNOW will call you within 2 minutes of your receiving the email I would start emailing them back as soon as you receive the email to tell them, "I have received your email and will send you the requested information after consideration (or research, etc.)." This lets them know that you will get to it in your own time.

Time to tell those nimwits to not call you 2 minutes after they send the e-mail asking you if you've read it, and tell them you actually have other shit to do. You can't be at the computer every minute of the work day and also can't immediately respond to every single e-mail you get.

I did have a co-worker who was sort of like that (not as bad, but if I didn't reply within a few hours he'd literally walk over ask if I read his e-mail...he wouldn't call about it because he kew I wouldn't answer because we had caller ID ), and after a few times of calmly but firmly reminding him I had other shit going on he quit pestering me.

 

[colobuck79]

Time to tell those nimwits to not call you 2 minutes after they send the e-mail asking you if you've read it, and tell them you actually have other [Mark May] to do. You can't be at the computer every minute of the work day and also can't immediately respond to every single e-mail you get.

I frequently tell clients off in my mind. In my mind, that is.

 

[buckeyebri]

I really like the 24 hour response rule. Typically if I need something sooner then I will call the person. What I don't like is when people don't respond at all and then later say oh yeah sorry I never responded to that email. Obviously you were aware of it, so some response was in order.

Tone is always difficult and I try not to read tone into emails. My boss got all wiggy the other day because I asked her if something could be moved up the ladder in importance via email. It was a straight up request, no tone was implied, just we need to take care of this can you help make it happen.

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

I generally try to get back to people within a day, but if the sender drops something ridiculous on my lap via e-mail, I may make it a point NOT to respond to it for a couple days. Or weeks. I have one from almost a month ago that I still haven't dignified with a response. I'm not a very good person.

One minor source of irritation for me is when the method of communication is changed mid-stream. If I e-mail you for something, that's generally an indication of how I'd like the response. Don't call me with a number. Don't email me with a message of "please call me". If I want something in writing, I want it in writing. Don't try to pin shit on me by suggesting that I misunderstood what you told me.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

I generally draw the line at full frontal pics.

 

[BB73]

I don't mean to derail, but I have some clients that send emails and if I don't respond in 2 minutes they immediately call me to ask me if I have read their email. This happens at least 5 times a day. Something that should increase efficiency ends up having the opposite effect. It really cuts into my time surfing this board. Seriously, I think it is reasonable to expect a response in one day, but most people lack that kind of patience and expectations are for a much quicker response. [old man mode] Gone are the days when you dropped a draft report in the mail and 7 days later you received comments back in the mail. I long for those days. [/old man mode]

If they don't think you've responded in a timely manner to an email, they should text you. Then if you don't respond to their texts in a timely manner, they can call you. Then if you don't answer your phone, they can call 911 and have paramedics sent to your place of work.

It's all about levels, but these folks are just trying to save your life.

 

[buxfan4life]

24 hours is my normal response time for regular, everyday situations. I will not answer the phone if I get a call from the person who sent said email for that 24 hour period since 99% of the time they ask me "have you read my email?" and want to discuss.

For others that need immediate attention, I will call said person to go over the situation, and then follow up with a email confirming what was talked about.

As for tone, I try and read over every message that I write to make sure that I "sound" level and not heated or upset in anyway. That is sometimes hard to do when responding to stupid stuff. There have been times that I will save an email as a draft, go do something else for a bit to calm down, then re-read and edit as necessary before sending (this has kept me from escalating an already bad situation with my tone in the original text of the email).