There is no avoiding the use of e-mail in order to communicate on the job. It is a very fast way of getting information back and forth. Fast is not always the best though. It is better to concentrate on saying the right thing in an e-mail instead of sending e-mail as quickly as possible. The article “E-Mail: Before you hit send” has good and important tips on the things to think about when writing an e-mail and before sending it.
One of the most important reminders is on the last page. I think this should be the first reminder: do not open a suspicious e-mail because it could be a virus. One of the first things that should be done is to make sure your computer has some kind of virus protection package like Norton Anti-Virus or Panda Global Protection.
The next thing to remember is “There is no such thing as privacy in e-mail . . .Don’t send confidential or classified information via e-mail – and don’t put anything into an e-mail that could offend others, embarrass you or come back to haunt you” (41). I think that this should be on the first page right under a reminder about viruses. There are a lot of examples that show how this is just plain common sense. When you write to a friend at work complaining about your boss and calling her (or him) names, the message could get to the wrong person and you could get fired. When you are having fight with your best friend or even your sister or brother, if you say very mean words they can never be taken back. E-mail can hurt a person’s feels very badly and it can be hard to undo the damage.
The rest of the article is helpful because it reviews how to choose the right style and when to use e-mail. The tips under the heading “Make it easy on your reader” are very helpful. I highly recommend using this article for a reference. It answered a lot of questions for me that I thought were things everyone else knew, so I was too embarrassed to ask. I would be sure to pay special attention to the virus information and the e-mail content information though because I think that if the recommendations are not followed, an e-mail sender could find themselves in a lot of trouble.
Work Cited
“E-mail: Before you hit send.” Chapter 5. In The Business Style Handbook: An A – Z Guide for Writing on the Job with Tips, Addison Wesley, Publishing Co., Inc. 2002. pp. 41-53. Print.
