10 TIPS FOR

BETTER EMAIL
COMMUNICATION
AND ETIQUETTE
1 Understand when to use “To” and “CC.”
The more people you send an email to, the less likely any single person will 

respond to it.

The people you include in the “To” field should be the people you expect to read
and respond to the message. The “CC” field should be used sparingly. You
should only CC people who have a need to stay in the know.

2 Keep messages brief and to the point.

Make your most important point first, then provide detail if necessary. with the
amount of emails people get, you need to be clear at the beginning what you’re
looking to achieve or what you want them to do.

Be mindful of your tone.

3
Because it’s text based, the recipient doesn’t have any non-verbal cues to pick
up on. Because of this, you need to be careful about your tone. You should avoid
sarcasm at all costs, since it most likely will get “lost in translation,” and you risk
offending the other party.

Don’t reply in anger.

4
Much better to take a 5 minute walk around the office before replying.

Don’t overuse “reply to all.”

5
Unfortunately this is used too o"en, and just adds more clutter to everyone’s 

already cluttered inbox. Your default response should be to reply only to the
sender. Before you reply to everyone, make sure that everyone needs to know.


1 The Simplest Tool For A Greater Workplace

 Don’t write in ALL CAPS.
6
This is the digital equivalent of shouting. Besides ALL CAPS are harder to read.

7 Remember that company e-mail isn’t private.

You have no legal protection. Anyone with sufficient authority or access can
monitor your conversations on company-owned servers.


8 Use a signature with your contact 


information.
This is a courtesy for those receiving your messages. It also cuts down on e-mail
messages, since people don’t have to send a second or third e-mail asking for
your phone number or mailing address.


Provide “if-then” options.

9
This is to avoid a long email thread. For example, “I can meet at 10:00 a.m.,
11:00 a.m. or 2:00 p.m. Will one of those times work? If not, would you please 

reply with three times that would work for you?”

10 Re-read your e-mail before you send it.

It’s a good idea to re-read your messages and make sure that you are 

communicating clearly, sending it to the right person, and don’t have any 

spelling mistakes.

2 The Simplest Tool For A Greater Workplace