A Quick Guide to Email Etiquette

One of the key factors that ensures the efficient management and smooth processes of your body corporate is the time and effort placed on effective communication. With this in mind, it is important not to overlook methods of electronic communication, such as emailing. It has become increasingly common for email to be a preferred method of body corporate correspondence. With consideration to the amount of documentation, collaboration and information transferred via email, it is important to make sure that the recipient receives your correspondence and its content is comprehendible so that any necessary actions can be taken. Prior to sending an email, make sure that you clearly state your objectives and any time frames in which you require confirmation or response. Below we have provided tips on email etiquette to help ensure effective communication in all body corporate matters:

• If you are emailing a new recipient, make sure to introduce yourself and include a brief reminder of who you are in relation to the person you are contacting. It is important not to assume that a new recipient will know who you are based on your email address
• Avoid using caps lock and overusing exclamation marks. These can make the statements in your email appear as if you are shouting or angry
• A common mistake made in email communications occurs when a recipient has been copied in (CC or BCC) to an email with little explanation of its relevance to recipient. 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
• Unless providing valuable feedback, it is best to avoid sending informal emails that do not require an action or a response
• Provide a clear subject line. With inboxes often being clogged with hundreds of emails daily, it is important that your subject line clearly states what your email is about, this will eliminate the likelihood of your email being seen as spam and trashed
• 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

Emailing is essential in our business and our personal lives, and when used in a sensible manner, it can be a very effective and efficient way of communicating. The ever-increasing time that is spent dealing with emails in a normal work day 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. Aaron commenced with Archers in 2003 as an Accounts Assistant. During the past 11 years he has progressed through various Body Corporate and Company accounting positions to his current appointments of Partner and Chief Financial Officer. Aaron oversees the Body Corporate and Company accounting functions which also includes IT Management. Aaron was invited to join the Executive Management Team in 2013 where he is responsible for many decisions relating to the company.