Writing e-mails

An important form of communication in business and work life, is the art

of writing emails. Today, they form a critical part of the way we work. It
also gives out an impression to the reader about the culture and values
of the organisation, and also the overall brand image.

COMMANDMENT 1: Subject Line

The Subject Line should be relevant with the message/ body of

the email.
It should be concise yet descriptive and the first letter of each word
should be in CAPITALS.

COMMANDMENT 2: Salutation

Official emails to be addressed with Dear (First Name) or Dear

Mr./Ms. (Last Name) or just First Name and end with a colon or a
comma.
Informal greetings such Hi, Hey etc. have no place in official
communication and it may be perceived as rude.

COMMANDMENT 3: Font Style and Size

Use an official font, preferably Calibri. Alternatively, you may use

Arial or Times New Roman.
The font size should be at least 10.
Writing the email in all CAPS is considered impolite. It is called
SHOUTING.
Highlight or bold only those words which you want to emphasize.
COMMANDMENT 4: Reply All Feature

Refrain from using the Reply All button. In most cases, replying
to the sender alone is the best course of action, unless you want to
escalate the subject matter.

COMMANDMENT 5: To, Cc, Bcc & Rr

Enter the addresses of those from whom you require action, in the
To field.
In the Cc (or carbon copy) field, enter the email addresses of
those people whom you require to be informed.
Use the Bcc option, when you want to share the information with
another person, but do not want the receiver to know about it. You
can also use this option when you want to inform someone about
that particular subject, without involving them in the exchange of
emails that would follow.
Avoid using Rr (Read Receipt) as it may be annoying for the reader.

COMMANDMENT 6: Forwarding Emails

Clean the mails of unnecessary content before forwarding them

 Messages forwarded multiple times often contain '>' and in case
you find cleaning the mails as cumbersome, then you could send
the forwarded messages as an attachment.

COMMANDMENT 7: Naming Attachments

Attachments should be named appropriately, so as to indicate

their contents.
The attachment names should neither be too short nor too long,
but denote the contents.

COMMANDMENT 8: Message Thread

Include message threads, wherever required.

A thread-less email results in delayed reply as the recipient
spends time to find out the context of the email in order to deal
with it.

COMMANDMENT 9: Ending the Email

For emails going to people outside the company, end the email
by using Regards, followed by your email signature, as approved
by the company.
For internal company emails, end the email with Regards and
your name.
The mails should not end with personal quotes.
Not using "Regards" and directly ending the email may send a
message of arrogance!
COMMANDMENT 10: Before you click "Send"

Proof-read your mail.

Check typos, spelling and grammatical errors.
Improper spelling, grammar and punctuation may give a negative
impression of the organization and may also lead to conveying an
incorrect message.