E-mail Advice:

Why use it?

Theory of GenZ generations use of e-mail:

The following is a summary of this article, written by Jacquelyn Smith and published by Business Insider. For the complete article, go here: As with any external article on the internet, the link may change or move at any time without notice.

According to the author, "the average US employee spends about a quarter of the work week combing through the hundreds of emails we all send and receive every day." Here are some "rules" that she suggests every professional should consider following:

  1. Include a clear, direct subject line. One topic per email message, please, too. Be clear about your message.
  2. Use a professional email address. This is not generally applicable in our (AT&T) environment because the company sets your "from" address.
  3. Think twice before hitting "reply to all." Then think about it yet again. Does "everyone" need to read your reply? Does everyone care?
  4. Include a proper signature block. See section 9.2
  5. Use professional salutations. "Hey" and "hi" are best reserved for your personal communications. For business communications, use a proper salutation such as "Hi Michael"--and don't shorten someone's name unless you know what they prefer to be called.
  6. Use exclamation points sparingly!! If at all!!!
  7. Be cautious with humor. The recipient may not understand your tone and could misinterpret it humor as sarcasm, for example.
  8. Know that others may come from different cultures and speak and write differently.
  9. Reply to your emails, even if the message wasn't intended for you. We all get email by mistake, gently let the sender know if this is the case, it's the polite thing to do.
  10. Proofread every message and do not depend solely upon spell checker or grammar checker. Grammar/spell check will pass both "sorry for the inconvenience" and "sorry for the incontinence."
  11. Add the email address (TO:) last to avoid inadvertently sending an incomplete message.
  12. Double-check that you'd selected the correct recipient, to avoid embarrassment.
  13. Keep your fonts classic. Wild fonts, backgrounds, and colors detract from the seriousness of a business related email. Your email should be easy for others to read, pure and simple.
  14. Keep tabs on your tone. There are no vocal and facial clues in an email message, so be direct and non-emotional in your language. Re-read your message before you send it to ensure proper tone.

Nothing is confidential, so write accordingly. Expect that the moment you press send, your message could be posted on any web site or copied to any person, anywhere, for any reason. Better safe than sorry