Professionalism in the Workplace & Email Etiquette

Learn professional email etiquette and clear communication by mastering five areas—setting up a message, composing, writing style, formatting and proofing, and replying—to protect the company and reduce misunderstandings.

Format emails for readability with sentence-case text on white, using 10-12 point fonts Aerial Colibri or Times. Use bullets for clarity and bold headings, and avoid colors or all caps.

Proofread messages before sending and read them aloud to catch errors beyond spell check. Turn on the automatic spell check and seek a second reader for important or wide-audience messages.

Reply to emails within 24 to 48 hours, even to say you need more time before a complete response, avoid unnecessary reply all, and address all issues and questions.

Forward emails with a clear note on why and how they matter to the recipient, scan the full message for sensitive information, follow company rules, and obtain sender permission.

Review proper email etiquette, proofread messages before sending, and read the full history before forwarding sensitive information. For particularly sensitive topics, consider a phone call instead of email.