by Jeannie Sather

Created on: July 23, 2009

You don't have to look very far to find a headline that tells of a worker losing their job due to email writing. The courts have ruled that your email at work is owned by the company, and they have all rights to anything in them. So using common courtesy in business emails is very important. To make sure you are in compliance, use the following check list.

Make sure your caps lock is off. This is very important because anything in all caps is considered shouting. As emails follow the same polices as harassment, you could be brought up on harassment charges for something written in all capital letters if it is offensive or habitual.

Make sure your spell check is on. Nothing is worse than sending an email with misspelled words. You won't be taken seriously, or worse yet, be deleted when your mistyped email is mistaken for some scam.

Make sure your language is devoid of slang. You never know who else in the company may have to respond to your email. Slang can be confusing or taken the wrong way. This is another way to get in trouble with harassment.

Make sure any abbreviations that are used are standard. If you use any, make sure that they are standard, avoiding any new shorthand. Business people do not have time to decipher your message.

Make sure you use the proper address. If you have never spoken to the person, use Mr. or Ms. and include their title. If the person wants you just to use their first name, do that. If you don't know exactly who in a department will receive the email, put the department name in your salutation.

Make sure your language is appropriate. Be sure your words are polite and appropriate for the work place. Avoid curse words or anything threatening, slanderous, or derogatory even if used in jest. Generally, business offices are not the place for risque jokes or emails.

Make sure your email content is appropriate. Be sure you have an email that is not going to get you mistaken for pornography, spam, or a scam. Personal email addresses, especially those with questionable names, will probably get caught in the filters at most businesses and should be reserved only for personal emails. Also, be direct in the subject line of the email, so your recipient knows what the email is about without giving out personal information in it.

Going through this check list will help make your business email more successful and keep you out of trouble.

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