How To Properly Write A Formal E-mail in 2023

 E-mail exchange has become one of our daily tasks these days. We are using this e-mail for general communication as well as for the corporate world, jobs, and, business. Especially in the covid reality when public life is at a standstill when physical work has become difficult, then email is more important than at any other time. Email communication requires accuracy, precision, and moderation. We will talk about them in this article. Just as bad messaging can lead to unpleasant situations in the workplace, it can also lead to job losses if the situation is too intense. So we appear as Robinhood to save your job!

Contents:

1. Formal e-mail
2. Some important rules for writing formal e-mails
3. Some tips
4. last word

Formal e-mail

Not all emails are formal emails. By formal email or business email, we mean the email that we exchange in the job office or workplace to communicate with the boss or colleagues. And the author of these emails must be a complete professional. According to data from the National Bureau of Economic Research, workers in work-from-home situations during the Corona situation are having to exchange more mail than any other time, and also spend more time on this task than any other time.

Some important rules for writing formal e-mails

Although nowadays we have to write e-mails, especially formal e-mails, career coach Barbara Pachter thinks that there is a deficiency. Barbara writes about everything from greetings to mailings in the corporate world in her book The Essentials of Business Etiquette. The book also gives advice on corporate emailing repeatedly. Today we will highlight some things from there.

• The subject of the mail should be clear and straightforward

See, whether a mail will be opened and read or not depends entirely on its subject. So in this case, be concise. It means fewer words, but that's the only thing that needs to be said. For example, changes in meeting time, urgent meetings due to presentation, an extension of the deadline, etc. can be some examples of subjects.

• Email address should also be professional

Every step of walking in the corporate world will be professional. Usually, in the case of employment, the mailing address should be given from the office. In that case, there is no problem, the name and surname are added to the mail of the domain of the organization. But the problem is when using personal mail. The mail address should clearly contain your name and may include a number. Primitive Facebook names such as Princess Saifa, Lonely Boy, etc. should be avoided at all times in the mail.

• Think twice before hitting Reply All

Mail's Reply and Reply All buttons are close by, so be careful. Reply All is generally not useful most of the time, on the other hand, Reply is used most of the time. If you reply to all, the previous message will go to the person from whom it came, and your reply will go to all the recipients who were sent the mail by the previous sender. So think twice before replying, nobody wants spam. And be careful with CC/BCC, always use BCC as it is safe, one sender can't see another's contact details. And if CC is given, everyone gets everyone's information, which is not desirable.

• Add your own signature block at the end of the mail

It is always a good idea to use a signature block at the very end of the mail. This makes communication easier, and saving the template means you don't have to write it over and over again. It will contain the name, surname, name of the organization, and contact number. But the thing to keep in mind is that it is better to keep the font and color normal here. If it is too colorful, the professional feeling will be lost.

• The address should not be average

The informal address should be abandoned. For example, it is better to avoid phrases like Hey you guys, Hi folks, Yo guys. Because they do not maintain a professional atmosphere in the workplace. Instead of these, it is better to address them by their first name as hi hello. Another thing, to whom it may concern should be avoided. It is better to proceed with a direct address. And gender neutral addresses should be chosen. And it's good to be aware of the use of name abbreviations. That means Hi Mike can be written instead of Hi Michael if it is known that Mike will not mind if he says it.

• It is better not to put more than one exclamation mark

In real life, we speak with different emotions. But writing, especially formal emails, is not as emotional. Hence the use of exclamation marks is reduced. And even then, if you are not sure whether an exclamation point is correct, you should not use it.

• Avoid replying to emails in an emotional state

We, humans, are emotional, and decisions made based on emotions may not be correct in many cases. So it is better not to write anything under emotion, as the saying goes, better late than sorry; That is, do the work late but still don't sit around doing things you'll be ashamed of later. So once the emotions have subsided, calmly reply to the mail.

• The team may have colleagues from different cultures, and respect everyone

It can be seen many times, there may be colleagues with different thoughts, different cultures, and ideologies in the team. They may not agree with your likes, ways, thoughts, and consciousness. Rather, it is normal not to match, so in these cases, it is necessary to ensure that one's own opinion is not imposed on one according to one's own wishes. One should keep a watchful eye so that no one gets hurt by one's own writing.

• Keep the font normal

We all love sporty fonts, right? But the problem is, when working in the professional world, some pleasure has to be left out. It is also one. Colorful design and comics font should not come to the corporate world! Granted you're an anime-bug, cartoonist genre, but you've sacrificed a bit for formal work. You can choose from common fonts such as Times New Roman, Calibri, or Arial. And the color black fits everywhere.

Some tips

This time I brought some additional advice. Rest assured, there is no more grumbling left.

• Proofread! Proofread!! Proofread!!!

None of your mistakes will go unnoticed by the recipient. So be careful, fools who rely on spell checkers. Re-check yourself after writing. Many of you may know the famous story of a gentleman who trusted a spellchecker and sent mail without proofreading it himself. After sending it, he noticed that instead of 'Sorry for the inconvenience, he had written 'Sorry for the incontinence!'

• A little trick, add the mail address at the end

But you never want a half-baked, incomplete piece of mail to go to the recipient. Therefore, as part of the warning, you can add the email address at the end of the entire email body. So that even if you forget, you will never leave an incomplete message by pressing the send button.

• Reply to the email, even if he forgot the email and came to you

Replying to emails is a very good habit, you can practice it. An email that has come to you means that it is usually important to read it and take action accordingly. The sender is happy to receive the reply immediately. Even if a mail is sent by mistake, you can reply by saying, Hello so-and-so, I think you sent the mail to me by mistake. This reply is given so that you send the mail to the right person. thank you Both parties will benefit from this.

last word

And last but not least, work with privacy, because in the corporate world everything is unannouncedly public. That is, even if you are sending the mail to one person, everyone will see the mail otherwise - it is better to send with such things in mind. And for the language of the mail/attachment inside, careful attention is required so as not to embarrass later. A couple of other things to keep in mind, don't send emails on weekends, schedule them instead. And decorate the email body beautifully. If everything is in order, sending mail, or communicating through the mail is not so difficult that you cannot do it. Of course, you can, we want you to become an expert in corporate communication with the right etiquette.

References:

1. 15 Email Etiquette Rules Every Professional Should Follow, Inc.
2. The Essentials of Business Etiquette, Barbara Pachter. ISBN: 9780071811262.
3. 15 email etiquette rules every professional should know, Business Insider.