Tips for Secure & Productive Email, Part 1: Best Practices

Tips 9-16

9. May I quote you? When you respond to an email, the original email is quoted. Cut the most relevant sentence from the message to which you are responding, preface it with a '>' (if it's not already there) and paste the quote above your response. Delete the rest of the original email from your response, unless you are responding to other points in the original.

10. Don't use email when you are angry. This is a tip from Joan Tunsall's "Better, Faster Email." While most of the time email does not convey your emotions, particularly humor, it somehow seems to transmit anger - even when you don't intend it to come through..

11. Get clarification. If someone sends you an email that upsets you, make sure you haven't misunderstood. As mentioned previously, emotion and tone do not always carry over well in email. Instead of responding angrily, in your response, quote the portion of text that you are unsure of and ask the sender to clarify. Indicate what you think it means, if you like, then ask if you've misunderstood.

12. Don't spam friends. Occasionally, company mail servers go on the fritz and send forty-five copies of the same email to the recipient (personal experience). Even if it's not your fault, it is polite to apologize profusely to your friend, family, or roommate.

13. Consider the quirks of other email systems. For example, say that you have a friend with a Hotmail account and want to send a list of hyperlinks. Hotmail doesn't handle hyperlinks inside of an email very well. For example, you cannot easily copy the actual URL, without a bit of effort. So anyone used to tabbed browsing, such as with all recent web browsers (including, finally, IE7.x), may find it frustrating trying to open a link in a new tab or window. It's hard to know about all types of email systems, but some awareness reduces frustrating situations for recipients.

14. Respond to group email appropriately. If someone has sent a group email that requires a response, but only to the sender or a couple of parties, don't copy everyone on your reply.

15. Don't respond to every group email. More specifically, it is alright to sit out a thread of group conversation if you are not being addressed directly. However, read the emails carefully to make sure that you are not being expected to respond.

16. Respect email laws and regulations. Some countries have very specific rules about bulk emailing. If you use email to promote your business, you need to know the laws for not only your country but probably wherever you are emailing to. It's a tall order, given the global village of the Internet, but its importance cannot be overstated.

Coming up in the next issue of Tech Extra: Communicating & Effectiveness

About the Author:
IT Security is a news and information publication covering all aspects of the IT Security marketplace. It was recently acquired by Tippit Inc. and has been re-launched as the premier source worldwide for IT Security information. The site provides original content covering viruses, vulnerabilities, news, events and background information in the market. It has strong relationships with members of the IT Security community and is rapidly building a unique, high-quality community of users and vendors. (Original article: http://www.itsecurity.com/features/99-email-security-tips-112006/)