23-PS_Email Etiquette AS2 V12

7/25/2019 23-PS_Email Etiquette AS2 V12

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The Audit Experience AS/2

Performance SupportEmail Etiquette

Email has become a fundamental tool for business. It is an ideal way to handle matters quickly

and bride time differences! but can also be a burden due to the "olume of messaes alone.

Throuhout your career at #eloitte! you will most likely use email se"eral times a day. $ou willrecei"e and send numerous emails throuhout the day and may find that more and more time is

bein spent manain email. Therefore! extra attention to email etiquette is important.

This performance support pro"ides you with simple! yet effecti"e tips for ensurin you use

proper email etiquette and communicate in the most effecti"e! efficient! and appropriate way

possible. This is one performance support you may want to ha"e with you at all times%

This performance support will co"er the followin topics &click on a link to o to the topic'(

TI)S *+, SE-#I- EAI0

1hen do I use or not use email

1hat oes in the email

I am ready to send the email3 now what

TI)S *+, ,ES)+-#I- T+ EAI0

4ow do I respond to an email

1hat about copyin others! forwardin email! or replyin to all

1hy ha"en5t they responded yet

TIPS FOR SENDING EMAIL

When do I use or not use email?

The purpose of the messae and the intended audience should always be considered when

assessin whether it is appropriate to use email.

6se email for routine business and for questions with quick! simple answers! but not for

somethin complex. If the topic is too complex to describe "ia email! consider usin the

phone. This will reduce the risk of your lea"in out important information and details! or

allowin the reader to interpret your messae in a way other than intended.

-e"er use email to discuss confidential issues. ,emember that email isn7t pri"ate. Email

can be retrie"ed! examined! and used in a court of law. 6nless you are usin an

encryption de"ice &hardware or software'! you should assume that email o"er the Internet

is not secure. -e"er put anythin in an email messae that you wouldn7t put on a

postcard. ,emember that email can be forwarded! so unintended audiences may see what

!!!"!# Deloitte Glo$al Ser%ice& Limite'Partner& in Learnin( #


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you7"e written. $ou miht also inad"ertently send somethin to the wron party! so

always keep the content professional to a"oid embarrassment.

#on7t use email as an excuse to a"oid personal contact. #on7t foret the "alue of face8to8

face or e"en "oice8to8"oice communication. If you ha"e a problem with someone! speak

with that person directly. #on7t use email to a"oid an uncomfortable situation or to co"erup a mistake. Situations that potentially in"ol"e conflict and stron emotions always

deser"e a phone call or a face8to8face meetin.

What goes in the email?

Subject line

The email sub9ect should be detailed enouh to i"e the recipient an idea about the email

content without ha"in to open it.

The sub9ect should accurately reflect the content of the messae! ad"ise what is needed!

and by when. *or example! :,esponse required!; :*or ,e"iew!; :,equest for

Information!; :*$I!; and so on. In addition! think of meaninful but short titles. 1ords

like essaes should be concise and to the point. Blarity is what makes an email messae

stand out in any lanuae.

!!!"!# Deloitte Glo$al Ser%ice& Limite'Partner& in Learnin(


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4elp your email messae con"ey what you intend with a format that makes your points

impossible to miss.

=eep the email short and simple. A"oid lon stories or descriptions. #on7t foret that

some people recei"e hundreds of messaes. In addition! many people now recei"e

messaes on ?lackberries or other personal hand8held de"ices &known as personal diital

assistants or :)#As;'! etc.

6se proper spellin! rammar! and punctuation. $ou may sometimes use common

abbre"iations with your #eloitte colleaues! but when communicatin with others! use

standard writin protocol. $our email messae reflects on you and #eloitte! so traditional

spellin! rammar! and punctuation rules apply.

6se a professional! appropriate tone.

*or example! in dealin with a work colleaue! you may communicate in a more relaxed

casual context3 howe"er! when dealin with entity personnel! you should communicate ina more formal manner.

Email communication can7t con"ey the nuances of "erbal communication. In an attempt

to indicate tone of "oice! some people use emoticons. enerally! emoticons appear

unprofessional and are not recommended. Also! don7t assume that usin a smiley will

diffuse a difficult messae. #o not use emoticons in communications with entity

personnel.

?e careful with the use of sarcasm or humor in an email! it may be taken the wron way%

6se simple! straihtforward lanuae. Bolloquialisms and 9aron can cause needless

misunderstandins! e"en amon people who think they speak the same lanuae.

6SI- A00 BA)ITA0 0ETTE,S 0++=S 0I=E $+6 A,E S4+6TI-. +ST

B+-SI#E, IT ?+T4 ,6#E A-# I,,ITATI-. It is also hard to read. If you want to

emphasiCe somethin in your messae! then bold the item or underline it3 this will also

draw attention to the item.

6sin all lowercase looks laCy%

*or emphasis! use asterisks or bold formattin to emphasiCe important words. #o not use

a lot of colors or raphic! because not e"eryone uses an email proram that can display

them. These may cause an email to be lare and then blocked as some oraniCations

restrict the siCe of the emails recei"ed. In addition! raphics are difficult to read on

personal hand8held de"ices.

Content

!!!"!# Deloitte Glo$al Ser%ice& Limite'Partner& in Learnin( )


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ake sure your messae con"eys what action is needed! who is responsible! and when it

must be done! or if the messae is simply for the recipient5s information.

)ro"ide all the information required for the recipient to take the action you request! either

as an attachment or in the body of the email messae.

0imit business messaes to business matters. A"oid references to politics! reliion! local

issues! celebrity ossip! and other potentially offensi"e or confusin topics.

Attachments and large files

#o not attach unnecessary files.

#o not attach lare files in your email since not e"eryone is on a broadband connection.

It can take quite a while to download a lare file! particularly if the recipient is usin a

dial8up Internet connection.

Another reason to a"oid attachin lare files is that some Internet ser"ice pro"iders limit

the siCe of a sinle piece of mail comin throuh their ser"ers. Therefore! your recipient

may ne"er e"en know you sent them somethin.

If you ha"e to email more than two documents as attachments! Cip them in one file3 or! if

the document is lare! compress it into a Cip file.

*amiliariCe yourself with icrosoft +utlook email option settins and use it diliently.

1hen replyin to a messae or forwardin a messae consider whether you want to

include the oriinal messae as text or as an attachment! as an attachment will increase

the siCe of your email.

Formatting

Send your reply in the format it came in.

It is ood to use 4T0 tas and formattin! but the other person must ha"e email

software that can support the 4T0 and formattin3 otherwise! it will be indecipherable.

?ackround color and stationery are fine for your personal email. It is not appropriate for

work8related email.

Email signature

6se the brand8compliant #eloitte pro"ided default sinature in icrosoft +utlook. This

will include your contact information so people know who you are! your mailin address!

and phone numbers. This also ser"es to promote the #eloitte brand.

*or pri"acy! you may want to remo"e your personal mobile number and home number

from the email sinature if you are participatin in a lare mailin list.

!!!"!# Deloitte Glo$al Ser%ice& Limite'Partner& in Learnin( *


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I am ready to send the email, now what?

e!iew the email

Always read the email before you send it.

ake sure that the email recipients are correct before you send it.

#o not hit the Send button without doin a spell check. An email with spellin mistakes

or rammatical errors indicates that you ha"e written the messae in a non8serious mood

and may i"e a bad impression. $ou can also do a spell check by copyin the email into

icrosoft 1ord and usin the spell check feature.

Consider your state of mind

If you are in a bad mood! anry! upset! sad! or ha"e any other feelins that may reflect on

the style of your writin! before sendin your messae &with "irtually no chance ofretrie"in it'! remember this( pushin the send button lasts a moment3 its effects can last

much loner. A ood rule is to count to ten before pushin send or wait a day before

sendin the email.

ead recei"t or deli!ery recei"t notifications

$ou can use the :read receipt; or :deli"ery receipt; notification function in icrosoft

+utlook to notify you of when the email has been recei"ed or read. ?e careful when

usin this function! as it adds to the number of emails in your inbox and therefore creates

additional emails for you to manae. In addition! the person recei"in the email also seesthe notification and may not appreciate the use of this feature. Ask yourself if you really

need to know this information.

TIPS FOR RESPONDING TO EMAIL

#ow do I res"ond to an email?

Answer all questions and pre8empt further questions.

Always reply to emails! especially the ones specifically addressed to you since the sender

is waitin to hear from you. Typically! the indi"iduals listed in the


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If you are copied on an email! let the person to whom the messae was directly addressed

respond first! assumin that they are the most appropriate person to respond. If the

person who should be respondin to the messae is not included on the distribution list!

forward it to them.

1hen respondin to an email! start by replyin from the messae you recei"ed. In many

instances! it is more effecti"e and efficient to include what the sender wrote! add your

comments at the top of the mail! not the bottom. If you want to add edits in the text of

the messae sent to you! make sure you tell the reader to see your comments below.

What about co"ying others, forwarding email, or re"lying to all?

Co"ying others

Bopy only people who enuinely need to know and are directly in"ol"ed.

6se the blind copy and courtesy copy appropriately. #on7t use :?cc; to keep others from

seein who you copied3 it shows confidence when you directly :Bc; anyone recei"in a

copy.

#o not use :?cc; as a substitute for :To!; as it will make people suspicious about your

intentions3 keep emailin practices as transparent as possible.

If you are sendin an email to multiple people and it is appropriate! you may put their

email addresses in the


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#o not o"eruse reply to all.

23-PS_Email Etiquette AS2 V12

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Transcript of 23-PS_Email Etiquette AS2 V12