Email etiquette

Treat the subject line as a headline which encapsulates or summarises the content. The subject line should be brief and descriptive, so the reader can quickly understand what the email is about.

You are welcome to write a new subject line if the correspondence alters character and refers to something else, or if the existing subject line is misleading, unclear or bland.
 

Examples
 

⛔ Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Meeting

🟢 Annual budget meeting

⛔ For students with study spaces

🟢 Study spaces: Are you correctly registered?

Make it completely clear why you are writing and what you require from the recipient. What is the task, issue or question? Or is the email really only FYI?
 

Examples
 

⛔ I am in charge of organising the study spaces, and we will in future have less room, so there will only be one room with study spaces. Neither will there any longer be two spaces for everyone, as there are right now. When I look around the reading rooms, I can see that there are many spaces that have no name on them, but there are books there, and some of the spaces that ought to be vacant also have books on them. I have attached a list so that you can see who has been assigned which study spaces. If you know that you can make do with one of the spaces you have been given, then please let me know, and state which one you wish to keep.

In future, study spaces that are not registered and have no name on them will be cleared, as I cannot keep things under control if you just take random spaces.

🟢 We now have fewer study spaces available, and the registration of study spaces and students has become muddled. Please check the list below and let me know if your name matches the study space by the end of today.

⛔ Is the communication section in the fund application completely off-target?

🟢 Would you read through the communication section in the fund application and mark any corrections clearly in the text?

Drop the long introduction and get to the point quickly. Begin with the most important point so the chance of the recipient seeing it is greatest.
 

Examples
 

⛔ Back in 2017, we created a new academic body for the purpose of strengthening our interdisciplinary work and quality-assurance research with external partners. The initiative emerged from a strategic focus area which has been discussed and evaluated since then. One of the criteria for the continuation of the academic body is an evaluation every two years, and now it is time for that again. Please fill in the evaluation form by clicking on the link here.

🟢 It is time to evaluate our academic body, which has been set up in order to strengthen our cross-disciplinary work and assure the quality of our research with external partners. Click on the link here to fill in the evaluation form.

Email language needs to be quick and easily decoded. So do not be afraid to use that extra full stop.

Long sentences require concentration and are more difficult to read, and you run the risk of the content being misunderstood or not read at all. The same applies to parenthetical sentences that increase the complexity of the text.
 

Examples
 

⛔ Students studying in the Master’s programme must apply for an exemption

🟢 Master’s degree students must apply for an exemption

⛔ Researchers who are not permanent employees at Aarhus University are also welcome to attend the event.

🟢 All researchers are welcome to attend the event.

Emails are often scanned and not read – this is especially true of long emails. For this reason, help the recipient by making the text clearer. Use bullet points instead of running text and make the text less compact by using paragraphs and giving these a highlighted headline.
 

Examples
 

⛔ You are expected to have read the appendices before the meeting. Some are more important to be familiar with than others, as they are of importance to the decision-making process, cf. the minutes of the previous meeting, and where you are expected to contribute.

🟢 I have attached the appendices:

1. The presentation, which briefly outlines the matter we need to consider
2. Consultation responses from stakeholders and partners
3. The process plan, which indicates the most important milestones and states who is responsible for the activities
4. Plan drawings of buildings and rooms
5. The project budget

It is especially important to have read appendices 1, 2 and 5 before the meeting, as they are important to our discussions and our final decision.

⛔ Lung school for COPD patients

At the hospital, we have a lung school. Here, physiotherapists and occupational therapists, nutritional experts, stop-smoking advisers and an oxygen and pulmonary nurse and doctor teach an eight-week-long course. The patients learn about their illness, medicine, everyday routines, breathing, how to stop smoking and how to follow a healthy diet when you have lung disease. In order to achieve a better daily life, it is important that COPD patients learn to use their energy in the right way. Over-exertion can result in breathlessness and shortness of breath, which leads to panic and suffocation attacks, if you do not know how to do the breathing exercises.
COPD patients typically find that they cannot breathe out completely, so they start breathing shallowly and in gasps, in an attempt to get rid of the air piling up. But this just makes things worse, and if the patient sits down in the belief that rest will help, it just gets even worse. We call this the ‘anxiety breathlessness circle’.
The lung school in the hospital is for those who have less than 50% of their lung capacity left. Patients with 50% lung capacity or more are taken care of by the primary sector.

🟢 Lung school for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Patients with COPD have a better daily life if they learn to live with their disease.

• Who can participate in the teaching?
  The lung school is for patients who have less than 50% of their lung capacity remaining.
• Why is the teaching important?
  Patients with COPD must learn to breathe properly – otherwise they risk shortness of breath and suffocation attacks.
• What do the participants learn?
  The participants learn about their illness, medicine and breathing. They also receive advice on how to stop smoking and on a healthy diet for patients with lung disease.
• How long does the teaching last?
  The course lasts eight weeks.

It may be necessary to highlight parts of the email text that require special attention, such as e.g. items, deadlines or dates. Do this by using bold or underlining.

Do not use colours or wacky fonts, and do not use UPPERCASE or exclamation points! The final two are equivalent to shouting and scolding. For the recipient this may appear strident and it is rude and unnecessary.
 

Examples
 

⛔ It is important that the deadline is met, as the deadline for applications is as soon as 24 March, and applications after this date are not considered.

🟢 It is important that you meet the deadline, as the deadline for applications is as soon as 24 March, and applications after this date will not be considered.

Be friendly and polite even if you are writing a short email. The tone should always be characterised by mutual respect, like you would if you were talking to the person(s).
 

Examples
 

⛔ STOP WRITING AND ANSWERING E-MAILS ‘TO ALL’ – YOU ARE DISTURBING EVERYONE!!!!!!!

🟢 That’s a good suggestion. I think the e-mail is aimed at me, so I will answer you directly.

Think about how many recipients really need to get the email. Is it relevant for everyone? The same applies to the cc and bcc functions, which are often used just to be on the safe side. It is a waste of time and can lead to frustration if the reader doesn't understand why (s)he is among the recipients. Therefore, say why someone is cc and what you expect the ccs to do.

Be careful not to act as a post office and uncritically forward emails. Explain why you are forwarding an email and what reaction you expect.

It is a good idea to summarise long correspondences so that the recipient does not have to scroll through a long list of emails to understand the context.

And remember to check for confidential content and delete the parts of the correspondence that are irrelevant before you forward emails.

Generally avoid using the ‘reply all’ function, unless the answer is actually relevant for everyone. Which is rarely the case. Instead, reply directly or forward your email reply to the people who could benefit from your reply.