Memo: E-mail Ettiquette

To: All Faculty and Staff
From: Kathy Gallagher, John P. Harney
Re: E-mail Etiquette
Date: January 5, 2006

Below please find guidelines to support the optimal performance of our desktop technology and reap the full benefit from our communications investments.  It is the responsibility of each of us to ensure that these guidelines are followed to maintain the professional image of our organization and maximize our technology.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

1. Avoid overloading the system with items that consume unnecessary storage:

Eliminate background colors, borders, stationery formats, and downloaded or extra symbols (i.e., smiley faces, budding flowers, etc.)—these extras can also corrupt the e-mail system. Stick with the standard format.

Eliminate signatures from e-mail salutations. However, including standard contact information in a preset e-mail format is often helpful.

Do not attach or include insignias or logos in your e-mails.

Avoid unnecessary cc’s, and use “Reply to All” only when all really need to hear back from you.  

Delete unnecessary messages and folders periodically, and archive the ones you need to keep.

If a Word document asks if you wish to do a Mail Merge, you should generally say “no” unless you intend to use this feature.
 
2. Be mindful of security and confidentiality.

Do not forward e-mails to other e-mail systems outside the Medical Center firewalls—this creates information security issues.

If you are asked if you wish to “Update Macros” embedded in an attachment, click “no” unless you are already familiar with them.  

Do not download screen savers…they are an easy means for virus infiltration.

Do not open e-mails or attachments from unknown sources.

Remember that messages you store in public folders are accessible by other users on your server.

3. Format your documents so they will be easy to consult on the receiving end.

Preview your work in black-and-white format (use print preview) before saving and sending.

Use different symbols and gray shading on your graphs to make them easy to decipher.

Format any file you send so it can be printed if needed, This avoids wasteful printing of many trial-and-error pages, as well as repetitive formatting by your recipients

Use plain white backgrounds for reports and presentations, both to facilitate clear copies and avoid distracting from your message.

Remember, when saving an Excel spreadsheet, that the cursor will point exactly where you left it when your recipients open the file.
 
4. Waste not…   

Color printing (which costs about ten times more than black on plain white paper) is to be used solely for high-level presentations where its use is essential to convey the message.

Turn off your monitor when you leave at end of the day. This saves energy and avoids burning images into the screen.
 
5. Remember that courtesy is as important in an e-mail as in any other form of communication.

Always include a subject line.

Use the spell-check feature (F7 is the function key to do this) and be aware that many similarly spelled words may not spell check correctly.

Avoid e-mail replies that simply convey receipt of the message. (Do you really have to write back just to say OK?)  This is not to discourage expressing appreciation via e-mail!  Saying “thank you” is never superfluous!

UPPER CASE messages convey anger and should be avoided.