10 email etiquette rules every professional should know

 

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.

美国的员工评价每周会花四分之一的时间来处理每天收发的成百上千封邮件。

 

But despite the fact that we're glued to our reply buttons, career coach Barbara Pachter says plenty of professionals still don't know how to use email appropriately.

然而，尽管我们每天都在回复邮件，职业生涯指导师芭芭拉·帕切特却表示，许多职业人士仍不知道如何恰当地使用邮件。

 

In fact, because of the sheer volume of messages we're reading and writing each day, we may be more prone to making embarrassing errors — and those mistakes can have serious professional consequences.

事实上，由于我们每天都会阅读和书写大量的信息，我们可能更容易犯下令人尴尬的错误，而这些错误会导致严重的职业后果。

 

Pachter outlines the basics of modern email etiquette in her book "The Essentials Of Business Etiquette." We pulled out the most essential rules you need to know.

帕切特在她的《商务礼仪要点》一书中概述了现代电子邮件礼仪的基础知识。我们选取了你需要知道的那些最重要的规则。

 

 

Examples of a good subject line include "Meeting date changed," "Quick question about your presentation," or "Suggestions for the proposal."

好的主题包括：“会议改期”“关于你简报的一些小问题”或“计划书建议”。

 

"People often decide whether to open an email based on the subject line," Pachter says. "Choose one that lets readers know you are addressing their concerns or business issues."

人们是否会打开一封邮件，通常取决于主题的内容，”帕切特说。“写标题时，要能让邮件接收者知道你的邮件是他们管鑫的问题，是和业务相关的事。”

 

 

If you work for a company, you should use your company email address. But if you use a personal email account — whether you are self-employed or just like using it occasionally for work-related correspondences — you should be careful when choosing that address, Pachter says.

帕切特指出，如果你为公司工作，你应该使用公司的电子邮件地址。但如果你使用个人的邮件账户，无论你是个体经营者还是只是偶尔使用它来处理工作相关的信件，在选择发送的邮件地址时应谨慎。

 

You should always have an email address that conveys your name so that the recipient knows exactly who is sending the email. Never use email addresses (perhaps remnants of your grade-school days) that are not appropriate for use in the workplace, such as "babygirl@..." or "beerlover@..." — no matter how much you love a cold brew.

你应该有一个含有你名字的电子邮件地址，这样邮件接收者就可以知道是谁发来的邮件。无论你多么喜爱以前创建的电子邮件地址，千万不要使用不适宜工作场所使用的电子邮件地址（也许是小学一直用到现在的昵称），如“babygirl@...”“"beerlover@...” 等，无论你有多喜欢喝啤酒，都不要用。

 

 

No one wants to read emails from 20 people that have nothing to do with them. Ignoring the emails can be difficult, with many people getting notifications of new messages on their smartphones or distracting pop-up messages on their computer screens. Refrain from hitting "reply all" unless you really think everyone on the list needs to receive the email, Pachter says.

帕切特说，没有人想要阅读20个与自己毫无相关的人发来的邮件。因为许多人的手机上都有新消息通知，电脑屏幕上也有弹出的消息提示，所以忽略这些邮件不太可能。尽量避使用免“回复全部”功能，除非你真的认为收件人列表里的每个人都需要接收这封邮件。

 

 

Don't use laid-back, colloquial expressions like, "Hey you guys," "Yo," or "Hi folks."

不要使用懒散或者口语的表达，比如“嘿哥们儿”“哟”或者是“嗨伙计”。

 

"The relaxed nature of our writings should not affect the salutation in an email," she says. "Hey is a very informal salutation and generally it should not be used in the workplace. And Yo is not okay either. Use Hi or Hello instead."

她说：“我们写作上轻松自然的语气不应该影响到一封邮件里的正式称谓。嘿（hey）是一个非常不正式的称谓，一般地，它不应该在工作场合使用。‘哟’（Yo）也不可以。要使用嗨（Hi）或者哈罗（Hello）。”

 

She also advises against shortening anyone's name. Say "Hi Michael," unless you're certain he prefers to be called "Mike."

她同时也建议不要缩写任何人的名字。一般应该说“嗨！Michael，”除非你确定他更喜欢被称呼为“Mike”。

 

 

It's difficult to reply to every email message ever sent to you, but you should try to, Pachter says. This includes when the email was accidentally sent to you, especially if the sender is expecting a reply. A reply isn't necessary but serves as good email etiquette, especially if this person works in the same company or industry as you.

要回复所有收到的邮件有一定的困难，但你应该尝试这么做。要回复的邮件也包括那些错发给你的邮件，尤其是那些邮件发出者希望得到回复的邮件。回复邮件不是一件必要的事，但这表现出了自身良好的邮件礼仪，尤其是如果这个邮件发出者和你在同一家公司或者是同一行业工作。

 

Here's an example reply: "I know you're very busy, but I don't think you meant to send this email to me. And I wanted to let you know so you can send it to the correct person."

可以依照这个范本回复：“我知道你非常忙，不过我觉得这封邮件并不是发给我的。写这个邮件给你是为了提醒你一下，好让你把邮件发给本该接收的那个人。”

 

 

Your mistakes won't go unnoticed by the recipients of your email. "And, depending upon the recipient, you may be judged for making them," Pachter says.

邮件收件人会注意到你的错误。“而且，有些收件人会根据你犯的错误对你做出评价。”

 

Don't rely on spell-checkers. Read and re-read your email a few times, preferably aloud, before sending it off.

不要指望系统的拼写检查。在发送邮件之前，反复多读几次，最好是大声地读你的电子邮件。

 

"One supervisor intended to write 'Sorry for the inconvenience,'" Pachter says. "But he relied on his spell-check and ended up writing 'Sorry for the incontinence.'"

“一个主管本来想写‘造成不便深感抱歉’（'Sorry for the inconvenience’），但他太相信他的拼写检查程序，结果写成了‘尿失禁深感抱歉’（Sorry for the incontinence）。”

 

 

"You don't want to send an email accidentally before you have finished writing and proofing the message," Pachter says. "Even when you are replying to a message, it's a good precaution to delete the recipient's address and insert it only when you are sure the message is ready to be sent."

“在你完成邮件内容和校对信息之前，你肯定不想一不小心把邮件发送了出去。即使是在回复邮件时，删掉收件人的邮件地址也是一个很好的预防措施，只有在你确定邮件内容已经完成以后才输入收件人地址。”

 

 

Pachter says to pay careful attention when typing a name from your address book on the email's "To" line. "It's easy to select the wrong name, which can be embarrassing to you and to the person who receives the email by mistake."

帕切特表示，在收件人一栏上，从地址簿里选择输入收件人的时候，需要格外谨慎注意。“我们很容易选到错误的收件人，这无论对你还是那个错收到这封邮件的人来说都很尴尬。”

 

 

Purple Comic Sans has a time and a place (maybe?), but for business correspondence, keep your fonts, colors, and sizes classic.

Purple Comic Sans也许曾风靡一时，但对于商务信函来说，字体、颜色和大小应沿用经典样式。

 

The cardinal rule: Your emails should be easy for other people to read.

基本规则：你的邮件应该方便他人阅读。

 

"Generally, it is best to use 10- or 12- point type and an easy-to-read font such as Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman," Pachter advises. As for color, black is the safest choice.

“一般地，最好使用10或12的字号，并选用易于阅读的字体，如Arial,，Calibri或者Times New Roman，”帕切特建议。至于颜色，黑色是最为安全的选择。

 

 

 

Always remember what former CIA chief General David Petraeus apparently forgot, warns Pachter: Every electronic message leaves a trail.

要记得前中央情报局局长彼得雷乌斯将军的教训：每一个电子信息都会留下痕迹。

 

"A basic guideline is to assume that others will see what you write," she says, "so don't write anything you wouldn't want everyone to see." A more liberal interpretation: Don't write anything that would be ruinous to you or hurtful to others. After all, email is dangerously easy to forward, and it's better to be safe than sorry.

“一个基本的方针是要假设别人会看到你所写的东西，”她说，“所以不要写一些你不想任何人都看得到的东西。”更宽泛的解释是：不要写那些对自身或他人有害的内容。毕竟，邮件容易被转发，所以有相对的危险性，考虑安全总比他日后悔要好。