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Poor email etiquette can be costly – Metro US

Poor email etiquette can be costly

In the age of auto-spell check, it’s tempting to thumb out double-time memos with no regard for the art of spelling. Still, career counsellors warn, your lack of SMS politeness could carry a cost.

“People are starting to move away from emails and are losing the art of putting together a complete couple of sentences,” career coach Sue Thompson bemoans.

“But you need to consider to whom are you writing.”

“It’s all about building rapport,” concurs Shirin Khamisa, founder of Careers By Design.

If your emails are responded to with snappish, unpunctuated replies — no “Hey, how are you,” no “Nice to hear from you” — then you might, she suggests, keep your correspondence curt.

“But if it’s a person who has a more personal touch, then I would reciprocate,” she adds.

“Those niceties are very important in building relationships, even online — and especially online — because we need that glue to hold us together.”

Older workers, Thompson notes, can be made uncomfortable by an overload of Web 3.0 abbreviations.

“Baby boomers are going to expect a fairly concise, but formal email,” she says. And they’ll likely place a greater importance on spelling, she adds.

“Some people will really consider your spelling, whether you know the difference between your and you’re and its and it’s,” she says.

“Just respect the person to whom you’re writing. That’s what etiquette is.”