1. Marking an email urgent when it's really not : Think before using the word urgent. Just because you’ve the urgency to send out an email doesn’t mean the recipient needs to see it urgently. Be judicious while sending “urgent” emails as seeing a mail which is anything but that is downright annoying.
2. Missing the subject line : It’s a professional email and the least you can do is put a subject line. It doesn’t take too much time to write a few words about what’s in the mail. Also, seeing “no subject” while trying to search an email is tedious. Putting in a subject always helps.
3. Incorrect spellings and typos : In this digital era, there’s simply no excuse for making spelling mistakes. Use a smartphone and are in a rush to send out the mail? There’s a dictionary and an autocorrect feature that is just there to help you avoid making spelling mistakes. Don’t be under the impression that a spelling mistake here and there won’t be noticed just because you typed it on a smartphone.
4. Use of SMS language in emails : Are you still using a Nokia 3310 or a feature phone? No, right? Then do note that thanks is spelt as T-H-A-N-K-S and not “tks” or “thx”. Similarly, sorry is spelt as S-O-R-R-Y and not “sry”. By using text speak in emails you’re just giving out an impression of being too lazy. It’s a professional email, keep it professional.
5. Writing appropriate subject lines : Often one receives emails where the entire text of the mail is written in the subject. There’s a reason why the subject is called the subject and there’s a place for one to put the text in the body.
6. Requesting read receipts : If you are asking people to send read receipts it show two things: a) you are either too desperate to know that the other person has read your email; or b) you don’t trust them to have read your mail. You don’t want to appear either of the two, so don’t ask for read receipts.
7. Using emojis in an email : This is an email we are talking about, not Snapchat or Instagram posts. If you’re happy about something, say “I am delighted” rather than using an emoji. There’s a time and place for using emojis and an email is certainly not one of them.
8. Get your punctuation sorted : While it’s slightly acceptable to get a comma or full stop wrong (blame it on smartphones), what’s not acceptable is this: !!!!!!. Too many exclamation marks have no place for in an email – or for that matter anywhere. There are other ways to express excitement or anger rather than incessantly pressing the exclamation key on the keyboard.
9. Choose the right font : Believe it or not one still comes across Comic Sans in emails. What makes it worse is sometimes it’s in different colours. All you need is a ‘regular’ font, black text and no background image. Unless you’re sending a birthday invite for a two-year old, then unleash your creativity as you like.
10. Replying to all when it’s not meant for an individual : Yes, there are a lot of mails you get where there are tons of other recipients marked. However, always be careful when replying to such mails. A mail which has no purpose or meaning to someone shouldn’t be sent from professional IDs. There’s a folder for such mails and its called Junk or Spam.
11. Using the CC and BCC feature : It is extremely convenient and handy yet when used incorrectly the CC and BCC feature can be terribly irritating. Always ask the other person before marking them on BCC or CC. It’s not right to give out information without someone who is new to the entire conversation.
12. Mails with a lot “history” : Unless you want to show a particular chain of mails/events, always delete the unnecessary history from the mail. No one wants to see or read things which aren’t relevant in the current conversation or context. It doesn’t take too much time to erase the past mails and make it look ‘neat’
13. Think before sending attachments : Do not send unnecessary attachments with an email. Even though space isn’t too much of an issue but at times an important email might take too much time to download under the ‘burden’ of an attachment. Think before attaching any heavy file – image, PDF report or video – with the email.
14. Length of an email : Now this is a bit subjective but ensure that the mail you sent is neither too short nor too long. No one likes to read long essays, so try keeping professional mails as concise as you can. Similarly, if someone has asked you question which needs a slightly detailed response, don’t send monosyllabic answers.
15. Delayed replies to emails : At times, it happens with everyone that we sometimes forget to reply to an email. However, if it’s a professional or official mail, in all probability it does merit a response. Don’t sit on it for too long or worse completely forget about replying to it. One can simply send polite replies like “Will revert soon” or “working on it” so that the other person doesn’t feel completely ignored.
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