IT Recommendations for Email Etiquette

Distribution Lists  
Emailing using distribution lists can be a great time saver when you need to send a message to a group of recipients. However, below are some tips to consider when you are emailing a distribution list to follow email etiquette.

  • Replying All to Distribution Lists - This is all dependent on the email itself, however with most cases, choosing to “Reply All” will cause an influx of unnecessary emails to all the recipients on the Distribution List.  If it is truly a message that needs to be seen by the whole DL, then by all means reply all. However, if it is only to 1 person or a select few, it’s better to just reply separately to those people.

    If you do decide to send to the DL, do you know who is part of the DL?  If you are not familiar with the specific list, check the members first before sending your message.

  • Sending an email from a Distribution List or Shared Account - When you are sending an email from a Distribution List or Shared Account, it is always important to add your name at the end of the email so the recipient knows to whom they are replying.

    It is a bit daunting to reply to a whole distribution list, not knowing who you are speaking with. In addition, by adding your name to the end of the email, it prevents confusion to the rest of the members on the distribution list or Share Account as to who the email conversation pertains to.

Email Subject Lines 

We all get a lot of email – on average more than 120 per day!  An informative email subject line can make a big difference for a person deciding whether or not to open an email. If your subject line is vague, you run the risk of the recipient ignoring your email or struggling to search and understand the point of the email.  To help persuade a recipient to open your email, you want to make sure the subject line is clear, direct, and lets the recipient know what the email pertains to.

Roughly 50% of all email is read on a mobile device, which may show only half of the 60 characters from the subject line in a typical desktop mail client, so try to summarize your email in just a few words.