Good email etiquette is an act of kindness and generosity

If you send a lot of emails, your signature is a great place to set some rules of engagement. This article suggests:

“My working day may not be your working day. Please don’t feel obliged to reply to this email outside of your normal working hours.”

I also use the ‘scheduled send’ feature if I’m writing at a time that’s convenient to me but I’d rather it wasn’t sent until my regular work hours begin – promoting better work practices, even if I haven’t been able to stick to them myself!

Some ideas from The Email Charter:

• Include a status category in the subject, like [Info], [Action] or [Low priority]
• Avoid open-ended questions by offering an easy-to-answer alternative (e.g. instead of “How can I help?” you might say “Can I help by calling, or should I stay out of it?”)
• End with a note like “No need to respond” or “Response needed by Friday”