Megan Corson

ENGL2116-003
Email Etiquette
Article 1
Better Writing = Better Business Ties. (Cover Story). Administrative Professional Today. 40.3
(2014): 1-2. Business Source Complete. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.
<https://librarylink.uncc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true
&db=bth&AN=94884531&site=bsi-live>
This article is an interview with Lynn Gaertner-Johnston, who is a writing instructor and
author of the monthly newsletter Better Writing at Work. In this interview, Gaertner-Johnston
describes how writing good emails makes you a better candidate for gaining more responsibility
and opportunity in a business setting. She also describes a few tips on how to correct bad habits
and what behaviors should be avoided in writing effective emails. For example, she suggests
keeping a sign above your computer to help you correct bad grammar. Also, she states that you
should not put anything in an email that you would be embarrassed to see in public, for
example, innuendos or negative comments. These can ruin relationships instantly and put you
in a bind at work.
The newsletter, Administrative Professional Today, does not list the authors of individual
articles, so it hard to identify if the author is reliable. However, looking at the blog of the
woman being interviewed, she is a very reliable source for business writing. She is the founder
of the Syntax Training, a firm in Seattle, Washington, that trains employees and managers how
to write better. Syntax Training has been around since 1990, so Gaertner-Johnston is a great
source of how to write better in a business setting. The article in question was published this
month, so it is very recent and timely, making it reliable in this sense.
I think that the examples that Gaertner-Johnston used are extremely important when it
comes to writing good business email. Copying someones boss on a negative message can
definitely create a rift between two people. While it is important not to be negative in your
emails to begin with, it is even more important not to create problems in the work place by
forwarding messages to peoples supervisors and bosses. I also think it is very important to allot
yourself enough time to properly respond to an email rather than hashing something out
quickly and sending it off. You look a lot more professional when you have carefully worded an
email than you do with jumbled ideas in a quick email. Being courteous and efficient in your
emails is extremely important. You do not want your superiors or coworkers trying to fish
through your emails for the most important bits of information when being efficient in your
writing can eliminate that problem.
These tips are very important in the computer science field, especially in programming.
When it comes to communicating with team leaders and teammates when you are working on
a program, it is very important to be courteous and efficient in your communications. These
pieces of etiquette also extend to in-line comments in programs themselves and other forms of
technical writing.

Article 2
Louden, Katie. Boosting Communication Skills. Collector (0010082X) 78.11 (2013): 40-42.
Business Source Complete. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.
<https://librarylink.uncc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true
&db=bth&AN=87717661&site=bsi-live>
Boosting Communication Skills is an article dealing with different types of
communication you experience in the business world, communication over the telephone, via
email and in-person communication. This article describes good etiquette in each instance of
communication when dealing with people that work within your business and people that are
outside of the business as well. It is broken down into the three categories and describes the
etiquette for each one.
I found the author, Katie Louden, on LinkedIn and browsed her profile. She is extremely
proficient in technical writing, communications and marketing. This makes me believe that she
is a reliable source as an author. I looked at her other work on her website as well and found
that she is a very experienced writer, having written several articles for Collector, a print and
electronic magazine for the credit and collections industry, and Pulse, a newsletter for health
care providers. Collector is a magazine that is produced monthly. This particular issue of
Collector is from June 2013. The text is less than a year old and still vitally relevant for all
industries. The article quotes a lot from Terri Boettcher, vice president of collection at BC
Services. According to her LinkedIn profile, Boettcher has been in the industry since 1980. Her
level of experience makes her a credible source of information.
I found that the article is extremely relevant and useful. It has great tips for all kinds of
communication. I found the email section to be particularly helpful. The article addresses the
length of emails as being one factor that is very important to email etiquette. I have
experienced the novel emails that are described in the journal. They are truly bothersome and
are not able to grab my attention as well as a short and concise email can. Everything that this
article addresses as far as email communication goes is very informative and are great
guidelines on how to format an email in a business setting.
As stated above, email communication is vital when it comes to computer science
professions. In general, many IT problems are solved through emails as well as in-person and
over the phone. Being able to speak to someone as clearly and concisely as possible over the
phone and in person is extremely important. After all, explaining what is going on with your
computer to your IT representative without being overly emotional is the best way to get things
done more quickly. Being able to explain in detail without too much fluff is also important.

Sources:
Article 1
1. Administrative Professional Today. 2014. 29 Mar. 2014. <http://www.adminprotoday.com/>
2. Better Writing = Better Business Ties. (Cover Story). Administrative Professional Today. 40.3 (2014): 1-2.
Business Source Complete. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.
<https://librarylink.uncc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN
=94884531&site=bsi-live>
3. Business Writing. Lynn Gaertner-Johnston. 2014. 29 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.businesswritingblog.com/about.html>
4. Syntax Training. Ed. Diane Varner. 2014. 29 Mar. 2014. http://www.syntaxtraining.com/
Article 2
1. Collector Magazine. ACA International. 2014. 29 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.acainternational.org/collectormagazine.aspx>
2. Boettcher, Terri. LinkedIn page. 2014. 29 Mar. 2014. <https://www.linkedin.com/pub/terri-
boettcher/18/965/954>
3. Louden, Katie. Boosting Communication Skills. Collector (0010082X) 78.11 (2013): 40-42. Business
Source Complete. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.
<https://librarylink.uncc.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN
=87717661&site=bsi-live>
4. Louden, Katie. LinkedIn page. 2014. 29 Mar. 2014. <https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiehebeisen>
5. Louden, Katie. Portfolio. 2014. 29 Mar. 2014. <http://www.katielouden.com/portfolio.html>