0

1
2
 An Introduction

Email is the most widely used medium of communication in organizations and businesses
globally. Being an effective official communication tool, most of the official correspondence
with our seniors, colleagues, vendors, customers, regulating agencies, funding agencies, et al,
is done through email.
Etiquettes are the manners that are acceptable socially and professionally.
It is necessary, then, to observe some etiquettes which help us communicate our message in a
clear, crisp and effective manner.

About the Guidebook

This guidebook is aimed at providing necessary tips

to make email communication professional,
business-like & effective and to reduce the
likelihood of misunderstanding, unintentional
rudeness or offence when communicating by use
of email.

3
4
 Communication

Communication in Today’s Business Modes of Communication

In an organizational context there are various modes

of communication through which employees interact.

The modes used for communication are influenced by:

Purpose
Timing
Urgency, and
Extent (Width & Depth) of the interactions.

It is critical for employees of today to be able to

understand and use a particular mode effectively to
conduct their business. It is even more critical to
combine different modes appropriately to get the
best out of the communication.

The cross-cultural nature of interactions between

employees deployed globally, demand consistent
communication for seamless exchange of information.
This poses a challenge to professionals of today to
maintain a sound etiquette as regards to each of the
modes of communication.

5
6
 Email communication

Email is an evolving communication medium and although it shares many of the qualities of
other conventional modes, it is different in its character and etiquette.
A well written message is more effective in conveying ideas and information and building
strong relationships with peers, seniors, vendors and customers.
Email communication, because of its speed and broadcasting ability, is the virtual carrier of
modern day official correspondence.

7
Email communication

Some of the benefits of email

communication are
Email can be sent to more than one recipients
simultaneously. Since the email reaches to many
people simultaneously, it is very essential to be
first time right with the content of the mail.
Email is ideal for business communication as it is
useful for documenting information involving
more than one person.
Email is an effective tool for communication as
one can include words, pictures, sounds and
videos – in fact, any kind of computer file.

In order to have effective email communication, one

needs to have a clear knowledge of composing,
sending and managing emails.

8
 Email communication

Understanding email

One has to be aware of the purpose for which the mail is

being written. Every mail written has to depict a certain
amount of professionalism of the author, which is oriented
towards communicating a message to the reader/s of the
mail.
There is a tone, mannerism and professionalism hidden
in every mail. Due care is supposed to be taken while
composing the mail, to avoid any miscommunication or
chances of the mail getting misinterpreted.
To author an email, one has to understand the purpose,
structure and basic elements of the email.

9
 Email communication - Purpose

Some of the most common purposes of email are

Issuing instructions Reporting an event

Seeking clarifications Providing updates & progress

Intimating Intentions Raising a concern

Conveying an agenda / future program Putting up a grievance

Inviting partnership Putting up a business case

Announcing a formal program Customer Communication

Giving feedback Vendor communication

Seeking approvals / Decisions

10
 Email communication - Structure

Structure of email
The mail message primarily consists of four parts

Addressees (Different types of receivers)

Salutation, which is the mode of addressing a receiver
Body of the message, which consists of the message to be delivered
Closure of the communication with the sender’s signature i.e. sender’s name and
contact details

11
Email communication - Structure

Addressees

Salutation

A
comprehensive

Body of the message

consolidated
purpose

Details of the
message

Closure with
summary of
expected
action points

Salutation

12
 Email communication - Structure

Salutation
A polite expression of greeting or goodwill indicating respect and affection or regards is
Salutation. In the context of email, it is a word or phrase used to begin a letter or message
and carries many connotations. It can be:

1. An act of honor or courteous recognition.

2. An acknowledgement or expression of goodwill

3. Word of greeting used to begin a mail message.

13
Salutation

☺ An email communication must start and end with the salutation. Emails without
salutation are not well perceived by the receiver
☺ Avoid using Hi or Hello in salutation
☺ Dear Sir/Madam (when we are sending the first communication to establish a
contact).
☺ Dear Mr. / Ms. / Dr. / Professor + Surname as in: Dear Dr. Little, (when it is a formal
relationship with the addressee and the writer does not know him or her
personally).
☺ Dear Susan (when the writer knows the addressee personally and the two share a
semi - formal relationship).
☺ Acknowledge with thank you, how are you, or appreciate your help!
☺ Always end your emails with "Thank you," "Sincerely," "Best regards“, something
polite!
☺ Avoid using acronyms of the name. Also ensure that the name is spelled correctly.
☺ Address your contact with the appropriate level of formality.

14
 Email communication - Structure

Signature
A mark or sign made by an individual on a document, physical or electronic, to signify
knowledge, approval, acceptance, or obligation is a signature.
The traditional function of a signature is evidential. It is to give evidence of:
1. The provenance of the document (identity)
2. The intention (will) of an individual with regard to that document

The signature in not solely to provide evidence of the identity of the contracting party, but
rather to additionally provide evidence of deliberation and informed consent.

15
Signature
☺ Include your name, designation, department’s name, company’s name,
address, contact numbers and email address in the signature
☺ Avoid informal signs in your signature
☺ Write your complete name, avoid using pet name
☺ Keep your signature simple, do not make it too jazzy

Sample Signature:
Jatin Patel
Company Secretary,
Suzlon Energy Limited,
"Suzlon", 5, Shrimali Society, Navrangpura,
Ahmedabad-380009. India.
Phone: +91-79-26471100. Fax: +91-79-26565540.
Email: jatin.patel@suzlon.com

16
 Email communication - Structure

Body of the message

The mail message body is the email’s main content. This generally carries the
information that is desired to reach the receiver and communicate the intent of
the information sent.

The body of the message should carry:

• a comprehensive consolidated purpose
• followed by the details of the message.
• and be closed with the summary of expected action points.

17
Body of the message
☺ Start with the Purpose: The start should contain what the addressee is supposed to
expect from the rest of the mail and should be comprehensive enough to arouse
interest and urge him to go on. Basically it must set the context of the mail.
☺ Include the details: Be sure you are including all relevant details or information
necessary to understand your request or point of view.
☺ Do not beat around the bush: Be concise and to the point. Do not make an
e-mail longer than it needs to be. Remember that reading an e-mail is harder than
reading printed communications and a long e-mail can be very discouraging to read.
☺ Use proper spelling, grammar & punctuation: This is not only important because
improper spelling, grammar and punctuation give a bad impression, it is also
important for conveying the message properly.
☺ Avoid Jargons: Avoid slang, jargon, high sounding difficult words (impressing with
vocabulary), colloquialism, sarcasm and curse words- They only invite
misinterpretation and deletion. Write in plain and simple English

18
Body of the message
☺ Make it personal - Not only should the e-mail be personally addressed, it should
also include a personalized touch i.e. customized content.
☺ Add disclaimers to your emails - It is important to add disclaimers to your
internal and external mails, as and when necessary since this can help protect you
from liability.
☺ Take care with abbreviations and emoticons - In business emails, try not to use
abbreviations such as BTW (by the way) and LOL (laugh out loud).
☺ Be careful with formatting - Remember that when you use formatting in your
emails, the sender might not be able to view formatting, or might see different
fonts than you had intended. When using colors, use a color that is easy to read on
the background.
☺ Avoid long sentences - Try to keep your sentences to a maximum of 15-20 words.
Email is meant to be a quick medium and requires a different kind of writing than
letters.

19
 Composing an email

Composing an email
“One is what one writes”.
How one communicates is an indication as to who and
what kind of person s/he is.
This step is key to communicate the message. There
has to be a clear thought process and understanding of
the subject, which the author of the mail is wanting to
communicate. The author has to share the ideas,
thoughts, and feelings in a coherent manner and have
the idea, thought, and feelings understood by the
reader. Think from the reader’s perspective to
communicate better, since a communication is as good
as it is perceived.

20
 Composing an email

Typical layout of email

To field:
Person / people you are sending the email to.

Cc field:
Carbon copy, Used when there are people involved
in a discussion who require only to be informed
about the communication.

Bcc field:
Blind Carbon Copy, used when emailing to a group
of contacts who do not personally know each
other.

21
To field
Check that the address or addresses in the To: field are those you wish to initiate a
discussion with / send your reply to.

Cc field
Use Cc only when it is important for those you Cc, to know about the contents of the
email. Overuse can cause your emails to be ignored.
Include addresses in the Cc: field for those who you just want to inform.
Use Cc: field sparingly - Try not to use the Cc: field unless the recipient in the Cc: field
knows why they are receiving a copy of the message.

Bcc field
Bcc feature is given when you do not want to expose the email addresses of
recipients to others.
Ideally one should avoid using Bcc since it smacks of suspicion.
It may be a better idea to forward a mail separately to the intended Bcc addressee. By
this you would ensure that the Bcc addressee does not inadvertently expose you by
replying to your mail.
Don’t ever respond to an email on which you were just a Bcc.

22
 Composing an email

Subject

Subject field- Subject is the first thing the recipient

sees from sender’s message, so it's a good idea to
make sure it's free of errors. It accurately reflects the
content of the email. It should ideally attempt to
summarize the content in one-line, eliciting action /
decision.

A clear subject line enables the receiver to gauge the

relevance and subject matter of the email.

23
Subject

☺ Do not send or forward a mail without subject

☺ Use a meaningful subject - Try to use a subject that is meaningful to the
recipient as well as yourself. If referring to a previous correspondence, use the
same subject.
☺ Keep to a single subject when composing a message

Good Example: Bad Example:

(Subject line) (Subject line)

Invitation: Renewable Energy Renewable Energy Conference

Conference, Chicago, Aug 24-26

24
 Composing an email

Reply
Reply is used to revert to the sender of the
message.

Reply to All
Reply to All is used if you need your message to
be seen by each person who received the original
message

Attachment
An e-mail attachment is a computer file which is
sent along with an e-mail message as the part of
the message. Attached messages may be sent in
un-encoded or encoded form.
Mail services have a limit on the size of messages
which may be sent and received; this limit may
restrict the size of files to be attached.

25
Reply, Reply to All

☺ Answer all questions, and pre-empt further questions - An email reply

must answer all questions, and pre-empt further questions. Moreover, if you
are able to pre-empt relevant questions, the receiver will be grateful and
impressed with your efficient and thoughtful behavior.
☺ Don't leave out the message thread - When you reply to an email, include
the original mail in your reply, instead of 'New Mail'. Thread-less email will not
provide enough information and you will have to spend a long time to find
out the context of the email in order to deal with it.
☺ Use Reply to All only when needed - Refrain from using the Reply to All
feature blindly to give your opinion to those who may not be interested or
should not have been included in the first place. Your response to the sender
need not be communicated to all to avoid possible embarrassment at times.

26
Attachment

☺ When sending large attachments, always "zip" or compress them before

sending.
☺ Never send large attachments without notice! Always ask what would be the
best time to send them first.
☺ Learn how to resample or resize graphics before attaching them to an email.
This will greatly reduce download time.
☺ Never open an attachment from someone you don't know.
☺ Be sure your virus, adware and spyware programs are up to date and include
scanning of your emails and attachments both incoming and outgoing.
☺ It is better to spread multiple attachments over several emails rather than
attaching them all to one email to avoid clogging the pipeline.

27
Attachment
☺ Make sure the other side has the same software as yours before sending
attachments or they may not be able to open your attachment. Use PDF when
possible.

☺ Never send business attachments outside of business hours and confirm that
the format in which you can send can be opened by the other side.

☺ Suzlonians can take the support of the IT team to create a File Transfer
Protocol (FTP) address for their respective departments to share bulk files >5
MB.

28
 Sending an email

Sending an email

There is more to sending a mail than pressing the send button.

The sender has to have a complete understanding of the
subject of the mail, the addressee/s of the mail, and the intent
of the mail.
Before one does press the send button, the content of the mail
needs to be thoroughly checked for correctness for typos,
grammatical errors, fonts, punctuations, etc. The subject line
and the content of the message should be consistent. The
seriousness in handling these would predetermine the kind of
response that the mail should seek, rendering one in command
of the situation.

29
Sending an email
☺ Read the email before you send it - Reading the mail before you send it,
helps to correct mistakes, if any. Reading your email through the eyes of the
recipient will help you send a more effective message and avoid
misunderstandings and inappropriate comments.
☺ Don't send or forward emails containing libelous, defamatory, offensive,
racist or obscene remarks - By sending or even just forwarding one libelous,
or offensive remark in an email, you and your company can face court cases
resulting in multi-million dollar penalties.
☺ Don't forward virus hoaxes and chain letters - By forwarding hoaxes you
use valuable bandwidth and sometimes virus hoaxes contain viruses
themselves. Since it is very difficult to find out whether a chain letter is real
or not, the best place for it is the recycle bin.

30
Sending an email
☺ Use templates for frequently used responses - Some questions you get over
and over again, such as directions to your office or how to subscribe to your
newsletter. Save these texts as response templates and paste these into your
message when you need them. You can save your templates in a Word
document or create templates in MS Outlook.
☺ Answer swiftly - A sender sends an e-mail because they wish to receive a
quick response. Therefore, each e-mail should be replied to preferably within
the same working day. If the email is complicated, just send an email back
saying that you have received it and that you will get back to them.
☺ Avoid Using Public Domain - Avoid using your personal email id from a
public domain, for example peter_225@yahoo.co.in, to send official
communication.

31
Sending an email
☺ Use proper structure & layout - Use short paragraphs and blank lines
between each paragraph. When making points, number them or mark each
point as separate to keep the overview.
☺ Do not write in CAPITALS - IF YOU WRITE IN CAPITALS IT SEEMS AS IF YOU
ARE SHOUTING. This can be highly annoying and might trigger an unwanted
response in the form of a flame mail.
☺ Use active instead of passive - Try to use the active voice of a verb wherever
possible.

Good Example: Bad Example:

(Active Voice) (Passive Voice)

'We will process your order 'Your order will be processed

today‘. today'.

32
Sending an email
☺ Do not overuse the high priority option-
Overuse of high priority option will make it lose its function when you really
need it. Moreover, even if a mail has high priority, your message will come
across as slightly aggressive if you flag it as 'high priority'.
☺ Do not copy a message or attachment without permission-
Do not copy a message or attachment belonging to another user without
permission of the originator.
☺ Do not use email to discuss confidential information-
If you don't want your email to be displayed on a bulletin board, don't send it.

33
Sending an email
☺ Avoid using URGENT and IMPORTANT-
Even more so than the high-priority option, you must at all times try to avoid
these types of words in an email or subject line. Only use this if it is a really,
really urgent or important message.

☺ Keep your language gender neutral - Avoid using sentences which indicate
gender bias.

Good Example: Bad Example:

(Gender Neutral Language) (Gender Neutral Language)
''The sales person should ‘The salesman should
configure the email program'. configure his email program'.

34
Sending an email
☺ Do not forward chain letters - We can safely say that all of them are hoaxes.
Just delete the letters as soon as you receive them.
☺ Do not request delivery and read receipts - This will almost always annoy
your recipient before the message is even read. If you want to know whether
an email was received it is better to ask the recipient to let you know if it was
received.
☺ Do not ask to recall a message - Biggest chances are that your message has
already been delivered and read. A recall request would look very silly in that
case wouldn't it? It is better just to send an email to say that you have made a
mistake. This will look much more honest than trying to recall a message.
☺ Don't reply to spam - By replying to spam or by unsubscribing, you are
confirming that your email address is 'live'. Confirming this will only generate
even more spam. Therefore, just hit the delete button or use email software
to remove spam automatically.

35
 Managing Your Mailbox

Managing one’s mailbox clearly depicts the kind of

person s/he is. The more structured one’s mail box
is, with clearly demarcated folders of individuals
and teams with whom the communication has
taken place, the more the information is accessible
quickly and also determines the behavior of the
person. The existing feature of Inbox and Outbox
for most of the mailing tools / software can be
further structured by archiving the older mails and
improving the functioning of the tool.

36
 Managing Your Mailbox

By default, all emails are received into a single mailbox and all messages sent are sorted in
a single folder. It is therefore necessary to manage your email in a more structured way in
order to have ease in retrieving messages.

37
Managing Your Mailbox

38
Managing Your Mailbox

39
Managing Your Mailbox
☺ Saving draft message - In case of inadequate time / information in hand, you
can select Save from the File menu to save the message in Drafts folder. This
helps to prevent you sending it by mistake if you have further information to
add.
☺ Mailings - Use the Bcc field or do a mail merge. Place the addresses in the Bcc
field if recipients do not know each other. A mail merge also allows you to
use fields in the message so that you can, for instance, address each recipient
personally. For more information on how to do a Word mail merge, consult
the Help in MS Word.
☺ Take care with rich text and HTML messages - Be aware that when you
send an email in rich text or HTML format, the sender might only be able to
receive plain text emails.

40
41
 Templates

Introduction
Templates by definition may mean a pre
developed page layout in electronic or paper
media used to make new pages with a similar
design, pattern, style or content. The email
templates save time while standardizing the
communication that is sent to the users. These
templates are ready-made designs that can be
used as a basis for fast and high quality
communication. The email templates are
customizable and can provide value to the end
user.
On the following pages there are reference
templates commonly used in discussion with
colleagues, vendors and seniors. These templates
are strictly for reference only.

42
 Issuing Instruction

Subject: Safety kit to be made available at site

Dear John,
It was brought to our notice about the kit required for the safety of the visitors who are intending
to document certain processes of our turbines at the Rattlesnake site.
I request you to take care of few things before any one is allowed in the site area. The people
visiting have to be given the following:
1. Safety helmet
2. Safety shoes
3. The safety drill for the visitors have to be done and the site manager / in-charge has to be
informed about the completion of the drill.
4. The safety manager has to be with the visitors during all times the visitors are at the site area.
Please note that any eventuality at the site will be dealt with very seriously as the safety of our
workforce and the visitors cannot be taken lightly.
If anybody notices any discrepancy in following these rules, you may please feel free to contact
Mr. Jim Terry, the safety in-charge at tjim@suzlon.com
Best regards,
Anthony

43
 Seeking Clarification

Subject: Seeking Clarification

Dear Thomas,
With reference to your mail on purchase of cement required for civil work at Hallet
Hill wind park, I seek some clarification about the specifications of the said material.
I would like to know
1.Grade of cement to be procured
2.Quantity required for civil work
3.The location at which the material is to be delivered
I want to bring to your notice that we have some stock of the certain grades of
cement available in our inventory. I am sharing the list of the same as an attachment
with you. Kindly confirm if any of the materials available suits the requirement.

Best regards,
Steve Taylor

44
 Intimating Intentions

Subject: Invitation to be a part of a cross functional team

Dear Mr. Chen,

This is to bring to your kind notice the need for a cross functional team (CFT) for the
purpose of disseminating the values of the company to the ranks and files of Suzlon.
The HR team has nominated you to be a part of this cross functional team to
highlight the specific value based actions in your BU. We request you to be the
interface between the HR team and the workforce in your BU in order to bring
about a certain measurable change in the culture of the people. We are proposing a
basic questionnaire for the workforce which will help us track the evident changes in
the attitude of people over a period of time.
The HR team wishes to thank you in anticipation to be a part of the CFT. You’ll be
further provided with a welcome kit to acquaint yourself better with the process.
Best regards,
Liu

45
 Conveying an Agenda

Subject: Q2 performance evaluation meeting

Dear Everyone,
This is to bring to your kind notice that a meeting has been called for evaluating the
performance of the second quarter.
We will be having a meeting next Friday from 2:00 PM-4:00 PM in the Conference
Room No. 2. Apart from the evaluation, the vertical heads will also share with every
one about the proceedings of Connect 09 conference that happened on last
Saturday at ‘One Earth’.
All the team members are expected to attend.

Thank you,
Marie Santos MEETING
LOCATION: Conference Room No. 2
DATE: Friday, May 5th
TIME: 2:00 PM-4:00 P.M.
FOR: All team members
SUBJECT: Connect 09
ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY

46
 Conveying an Agenda – Follow up

Subject: Minutes of the monthly review meeting

held on 5th July ‘09

Dear All,
Please find attached the minutes of the monthly review meeting held on the 5th of July ’09. The
executive summary of the meeting is appended herewith.
Action Points:
Sr.
Point Discussed Task Responsibility Timeline
No.
Review overall performance of the To discover deviation against target
1. Mr. Ronald 25th July
team and decide on corrective actions.
2. SAP TEM module Implementation Implementation plan to be devised Mr. Nielsen 10th July
Plan to be put up for setting up a
3. Integration initiation with BUs Mr. Bradman 15th July
CFT to resolve common problems

Note: All other ongoing assignments to be completed and reported as per the pre-decided
schedule.
Best regards,
Neil Sørensen.

47
 Inviting Partnership

Subject: Soliciting support for making a

learning module on S88 Commissioning process

Dear Charles,
Greetings !
We propose to make an AV module on the commissioning process of S88 WTG.
This comes in the wake of the strategic decision to standardize the commissioning process of S88
WTG across all geographies.
We request SWECo to partner with us in making this module. We require support on the following
lines
1. Subject Matter Expertise
2. Suitable location to video document the process
3. Safety personnel to guide the unit
We have been given to understand that few machines are getting commissioned in the 2nd week of
October. Please let us know the feasibility to capture the process during that period.
Looking forward to your reply in affirmation.
Warm regards,
Timothy

48
 Seeking Approval

Subject: Request for Leave of Absence

Dear Sir,

I am requesting for leave of absence from June 27, 2006 to July 8, 2006 for the
following reason. My physician has recommended that I refrain from working during
this period in order that I regain my health by taking good rest.

Please find attached the doctor’s recommendation for your perusal.

While I was hoping to work longer than he suggested, I feel that I should defer to
his judgment. During my absence, Isabel will be taking care of my responsibilities at
work.

Sincerely,
Kavitha Aiyer

49
 Customer Communication

Sub: Thank You for Your Sincere Comments

Dear Mr. Zhang

Thank you for your sincere comments on the performance of our
product. As you may know, so few people take the time to let a manufacturer know
when they are satisfied with a product.
Our product is reliable and we excel in end-to-end solutions catering to its
Installation, Commissioning and Maintenance. Needless to say, we’d be pleased to
take our services a step further and keep the product well taken care of.
Don't be surprised if you get a few thank you mails from the key employees, as they
pride themselves in the quality of their work and love to hear from our family of
customers.
Best Regards,
Wen Cai

50
 Vendor Communication

Subject: Requesting information about

translation services

Dear Mr. Martinez,

We are currently developing our sales literature and web sites and are interested in
translating these into five international languages apart from English.
I would be grateful if you could send us your brochure and price list about your
translation services.
I look forward to hear from you.

Yours faithfully
Ricardo Lopez
Marketing Manager

51
 Raising a Concern

Subject: Request for Extension of Time on

Promissory Note

Dear Mr. Jones,

According to the terms and conditions of the promissory note which I have
signed, I am obliged to pay the amount of $5,000 on June 15, 2009.
I have been informed that the funds which were to be paid to me prior to the due
date on the note, have been delayed. Needless to say, this comes as a great
disappointment to me.
I have been assured, however, that these funds will be in my possession by
July 7, 2009.
I am requesting you to extend the due date on the promissory note for a period of
one month and for a just consideration for the said extension be suggested by
you.
I am looking forward for your early response.
Sincerely,
Andrew Samuel

52
 Giving Feedback

Subject: Feedback on proposal submitted

Dear Mr. Khan,
Thank you for submitting your proposal for development of eLearning module on O&M of our
WTG. Your proposal was assessed by a panel of experts. We would like to bring to your notice
our findings about the same.
Positives:
• Your experience in the field is an advantage for us
• Available expertise vis-à-vis the team
Concerns:
• The timeline shared is beyond our expectations. We need to role out the module by 25th
itself.
• Cost is as per the current market rates, but looking at the scope of the project we would like
to renegotiate.
Our Recommendations
We would like to propose sharing the subject matter expertise from our end to help reduce the
cost as well as the timeline.
Let us meet on Saturday, 12th Sep ‘09, preferably first half to finalize the way forward. Please
confirm your availability.
Best Regards,
Krishnamurthy S.

53
 Announcing a formal program

Subject: FIRST Initiative

Dear All,
Today, thanks to you, Suzlon is the 5th largest wind turbine manufacturer in the
world and we continue to grow to higher levels of excellence. Our vision for Suzlon
is to make our customers happy and to be a consistent, profitable winner in the
market.
But our profitability has a lot of scope to improve, our performance has to be more
customer centric and costs have to be tightly reined in.
To be No.1 there are some things we have to accomplish
• Our Customers must be our top priority
• Improve product performance and sales realization
• Remove inefficiencies in our value chain

Continued on next page…

54
 Announcing a formal program continued…

Subject: FIRST Initiative continued…

So we are rolling out FIRST- Fundamental Initiatives Resulting in Structural

Transformation.
Here’s what you have to do to contribute
• Deliver on your commitments
• Accept and adopt to changes in policies, structures and workflows
• Act on your responsibilities
• Work as One Team, as ONE SUZLON
You will hear more about this program and its specific initiatives during the coming
weeks.

Best Regards,
Brad Miller

55
 Putting up a Business Case

Subject: Request of travel for documentation of S82

learning module

Dear Ceon,
My meeting with Mr. Rodrigues, regarding the documentation of the S82 WTG
learning module, concluded with a couple of decisions that were mutually agreed
upon.
1. Our team to go ahead with the production of Commissioning AV module in
China.
2. The revised cost and the support document to be forwarded to you and
Mr. Rodrigues.

Continued on next page…

56
 Putting up a Business Case continued…

Subject: Request of travel for documentation of S82

learning module continued…
Further to that, I’m attaching herewith, in MS word, the estimated costs of travel to
Zhuozi wind park, China for video documenting the troubleshooting process of S82
WTG.
1. The team visiting the location comprises of 3 people.
2. They will be at the location for 5 to 6 days depending on the wind speeds at
the location.
3. The travel to and fro and the stay of the unit is billed to the customer of the
module.
4. The local travel of the unit will be also taken care of by the customer.
I’m attaching the itinerary of the team’s travel, in MS Word document, for your kind
reference. Please make the necessary arrangements and bookings for the travel and
stay of the unit.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any query.

Best Regards,
Yao

57
 Reference Resources

To know more about email etiquettes, email

do’s and don’t’s please referto the
appended links:

http://www.sideroad.com/Business_Etiquette/business-
e-mail-etiquette-basics.html

http://www.webfoot.com/advice/email.top.php#why

http://www.bspage.com/1netiq/Netiq.html

http://www.netmanners.com/email-etiquette/10-e-mail-
etiquette-resolutions-for-2009/

http://www.iwillfollow.com/email.htm

http://www.emailaddresses.com/guide_etiquette.htm

http://www.learnthenet.com/english/html/65mailet.htm
Click the icon to read the article on
http://www.dynamoo.com/technical/etiquette.htm Email Etiquettes published in
Tiny Nuances, Fine LandDscape August ’08 issue!
Finesse

58
 Books to Refer

E-mail: A Write It Well Guide: How To Write And Manage

E-mail In The Workplace
Author: Janis Fisher Chan, Publisher: Write It Well,
Number of Pages: 168

E-mail Essentials:
How To Make The Most Of E-communication
Author: Matt Haig , Publisher: Kogan Page ,
Number of Pages: 153

E-mail Essentials
Author: Ed Tittel , Publisher: Academic Press ,
Number of Pages: 298

Managing Your E-mail: Thinking Outside The Inbox

Author: Christina Cavanagh , Publisher: John Wiley & Sons ,
Number of Pages: 198

59
 Feedback & Suggestions

Please address all your queries/suggestions regarding the product to

gld@suzlon.com

60
Tiny Nuances, Fine Finesse
Dr. Abinash Panda with Madhura Joshi, Global Learning and Development
The article reproduced from LandDscape August ‘08 issue

BUSINESS EMAIL ETIQUETTE:

Let me share with you one of my experience with e-dialogue (debating and dialoguing through e-mail). I was in
communication with Jack on a very sensitive issue for quite some time through email. It was concerned with the
developmental options available for Jill as a part of his Individual Developmental Plan. One fine morning I received a mail from
Jill, where she had mentioned his interest areas. It was a shock to me. Later I realized that Jack had been marking all
communication to Jill on “Bcc” line. Is it professional on the part of Jack to mark Jill on Bcc line? Is it fair on the part of Jill to
respond to a mail where he has been Bcced? Both Jack and Jill have undoubtedly acted unprofessionally violating business
e-mail etiquette.
Though email was invented in the 1970s, its use as a vehicle for business communication and e-dialogue has never quite
evolved. Poor grammar, typos and everything in between are quite common in e-mails we receive daily. Let me share with you
the relevant portion of a mail, which I received last week (see the box). After going through the content, you will know what I
mean.
An Example
Thanks for your efforts.I appreciate your answer.
I understand that my convincing to you was in vain.
i.e "The cost of inhoused consultant is more than Rs 20,000 per day,
But if you send delegate to the conference,
the advantages are
1. He get trained
2. Prime querries of plant can be solved at our conferences and
3. Afterwards the delegate himself can TEACH & TRAINED all persons at plants.

In this piece, I have mentioned fifteen key aspects of business e-mail etiquettes.
1. Spelling:
Any recipient would be irritated if s/he receives a mail with plethora of spelling errors. It is within the control of the sender
to use Spell checker before s/he shoots out the mail. Every single email program available, provides you a spell-checker.
Please check the Help or Options sections of your email program and set up automatic spell-checking. If that doesn't help,
perhaps a dictionary might.
2. Grammar:
Only one solution for this is education. Buy a book, take a class or take help of colleagues who are good in grammar.
3. The Subject Line:
Many a time we receive emails without any entry or RE: in the subject line. This is an instance of being inconsiderate to the
recipient. Do you want them to guess the real subject of the email? How do you expect them to file this email to refer to it
later? We need to put appropriate entry in the subject line, which captures the essence of the mail and is comprehensive.
4. Attachment Sizes:
Email programs do not allow attachments of unlimited sizes. While sending files with images we should take efforts to
compress the images. Once the images are properly compressed, the file size becomes manageable to be sent. The largest
size one should send should not be more than 2MB. If the attachment is too heavy the recipient faces a problem to
download it.
5. Length of the E-mail:
Not every communication needs to be documented in email. Keep your mail sweet and short. However, never send “one
liner” to the recipient. I had a colleague who used to send one liner like “What do you think?”, “Next what? and so on! We
should refrain ourselves from sending such one liners!

GLOBAL LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT

Winner of
ASTD - BEST AWARD 2009 FOR LEARNING EXCELLENCE
GOLDEN PEACOCK NATIONAL TRAINING AWARD 2008
This document is strictly for internal circulation only

continued on next page...

Tiny Nuances, Fine Finesse
Dr. Abinash Panda with Madhura Joshi, Global Learning and Development
The article reproduced from LandDscape August ‘08 issue

BUSINESS EMAIL ETIQUETTE continued:

6. Naming the Attachments:
Naming your email attachments for yourself and not for your recipients shows a certain level of inconsideration that
borders on disrespect. Filenames should be short and descriptive. Where you have a file that includes date sensitive
information, include a date in the filename. When you're sending an attachment to a customer, include your company's
name somewhere in the filename.
7. Email Stationary:
Your business emails should never, ever be set to include stationary (sometimes called “email backgrounds”). Stay
professional, drop the stationary.
8. Email Signature:
Keep only the name, title, company name, address, contact information and confidentiality verbiage in your signature. Let
us not use quote from some long dead philosopher or religious scripts. It does not add any value to the communication
process.
9. The “To” line:
Which recipients should be put in the “To” line. It should include recipients who have to act or take a decision.
10. The “Cc” (Carbon Copy) line:
Recipients who find a place in the “Cc” line are secondary or tertiary recipients who must be informed about what is in the
body of the email. They are the people who need to be informed but should not act. It is futile on the part of the senders to
expect response from the people who have been “Cced”. Like many others, I resist from responding to a mail where I have
been cced. Sometimes, people delete or don't read the mails if they have been cced. Don't blame them!
11. The “Bcc” (blind carbon copy) line:
Bcc line is intended to allow the sender to mask the list of recipients. Proper usage is limited to including a colleague in your
own company on an email to someone outside your company. Any other use is dishonest, at best, and displays a very secret
intention. If you're the sender, consider eliminating the bcc and simply forwarding the email (after it's been sent) to those
you intended to bcc. Managers should read between the lines when they're blind copied on an email – whatever you do,
don't reward the sender, and perhaps use this as a development opportunity. Don't ever respond to an email on which you
were just a bcc. I don't use this line. It is professionally correct not to use this.
12. Reply to All:
The “Reply to All” button was included in email programs for the primary purpose of allowing one of the recipients of an
email sent to many people to respond to everyone else included in the address lines. Be mindful, while using this option.
Don't use “Reply to All” when it is necessary to respond to the sender only or a few of the recipients of the original mail.
13. Using a Non-Business Email Address:
Using a personal email address for business purposes is a clear violation of proper business email etiquette. You should add
your last names to your emails if you want to conduct serious business moving forward.
14. Respond to E-mail Anyway:
We must respond to emails, however busy we may be. Most of the time we become victims of “We are Busy” (WAB)
syndrome. That should not be an excuse for not responding to email. This is outright impolite and disrespect to the sender!
15. Never use unprofessional language:
Many a time, we receive mail from my colleagues, with rude remarks and impolite language. Should we respond to such
mails in similar undertones? Does it help? No, definitely not. It is a 0definite no-no to use impolite language. To say the
least, it is like pointing finger at others in a face-face situation. We should resist ourselves.

GLOBAL LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT

Winner of
ASTD - BEST AWARD 2009 FOR LEARNING EXCELLENCE
GOLDEN PEACOCK NATIONAL TRAINING AWARD 2008
This document is strictly for internal circulation only

BACK