Email Etiquette in Strata

One of the key factors that ensures the efficient management of body corporate correspondence is the time and effort placed on effective communication.

Email has now become the most common and convenient method of communicating back and forth, so consideration to the content, supporting documentation, intended recipient and clear communication of action required has become increasingly important.

For efficiency, it is imperative that the recipient receives your correspondence and its content in a comprehendible manner so that any necessary actions can be taken without the need for clarification causing delays or possibility of misinterpretations.

We have put together some common tips on email etiquette to help ensure effective communication in all body corporate matters:

• The Introduction – If you are emailing a new recipient, make sure to introduce yourself including a brief reminder of who you are. It is important not to assume that a new recipient will know who you are based on assumptions such as your email address.
• Tone – Avoid using caps lock and overusing exclamation marks. These can make the statements in your email appear as if you are shouting or angry. Appropriate words should be used to highlight importance or urgency.
• Recipients – A common mistake occurs when a recipient has been copied in (CC or BCC) to an email with little explanation of its relevance. This makes it difficult for the recipient to know if they need to action anything and if the material is of importance. Prior to copying multiple recipients in an email, consider what you are expecting from the recipients and if it is absolutely necessary that they are included. Do not assume that because you CC a recipient that they will act on a small section relevant to them in a long email.
• Clear subject line – With inboxes often being clogged with hundreds of emails daily, it is important that your subject line clearly states which Body Corporate or otherwise you are referring to and what your email is about. This will eliminate the likelihood of your email being seen as spam and trashed.
• Grammar – Sending an email with grammatical errors indicates you don’t value the recipient or what you are communicating with them. Instead you should always proof read your email before sending.
• Appropriate Method – Although the introduction of email, mobile phones and mobile devices has enabled us to communicate while on the move, such advancements in technology have also greatly reduced telephone communication. If you are expecting a quick response to a query, an efficient way of obtaining the answer could potentially be via the telephone.

Email should not be treated as an instant messenger or text service. Emailing is essential in our daily lives and when used appropriately, it can be a very effective and efficient method of communicating. The ever-increasing time that is spent dealing with emails highlights the importance of having good etiquette and consideration of the impact this form of communication has on others.

This article was contributed by Aaron Margaritis, CFO – Archers the Strata Professionals.