09/06/2022
Email Etiquette
In the years that we've been working with executives whose second (or third or fourth) language is English, there seems to be one common bugaboo (“an object of fear or alarm”): writing work emails. While you may be perfectly comfortable speaking English to your colleagues, conducting meetings, and even doing presentations, something about the written word seems to bring up a host of insecurities.
While the average person receives approximately 120 emails per day, executives can easily receive 500 or more that they need to respond to. You want to make sure your email stands out--but not for the wrong reasons! Among the most common missteps: making your subject line too broad to attract attention, not keeping your message concise, and failing to have another pair of eyes proofread your email--especially important if you are not feeling 100% secure about your English.
Here are a few general things to keep in mind when writing your emails, especially when you are dealing with a culturally diverse workforce:
- Be careful when it comes to salutations. While a casual “hi” may be appropriate in some cultures, in others it is considered insultingly casual. If you want to stay on the safe side, a more formal “good day,” greetings,” or a simple “hello” would be more appropriate.
- Avoid acronyms, buzzwords, and idioms. In the name of inclusivity, you don’t want to make anyone feel like an outsider. That means avoiding things that may be perfectly normal and acceptable in your culture, but confusing to those who have different backgrounds.
- Clarity rules.
Proofread, proofread, proofread. This is critical, especially if you are feeling the least bit insecure in your writing skills. If the email is sensitive in nature, you may want a trusted colleague or an objective third party that is a native English speaker to take a look. Remember, once an email has been sent it can live on and on and on…and so can your errors.
We hope this broad overview for writing work emails helps. In future blogs, we will be addressing some of the ins and outs of emails in more depth, such as how to keep them concise and what to include. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us!
