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Email Ettiquettes

Emails!!! In this century, people, office and organizations are connected through mails. This is the century where mails are preferred much more than a verbal conversation. Why? Because these mails can later be used as a proof of the conversation.

The days of the office memo are gone. You do not sign on those circulars that the office boys circulate in departments seeking the signature of everybody reading it. Today it is the electronic signature that is important and it is a valid enough evidence that you have read a circular.

This is a series that I am starting today on professional email etiquettes. This series would cover everything that is important when you write a professional email – the what, how and when of email writing.

In the first article here, we will be discussing about the importance of addressing the right person in the “To” field.

If you peep into your inbox right now, you will find quite a few mails which were actually ones that were to be actioned by you, yet you were nowhere in the “To” field of the email. There would also be certain other emails where you were one of the many who were addressed in the “To” field, but you had nothing to do with it and it was just for your information.

The Importance of the “To” field -

The “To” address field has a lot of importance. It is indeed the electronic signature that we discussed a while ago in one of the paragraphs above. When you mark a mail to a person, he is supposed to be the intended recipient of the mail. He is the one who is to action on the email, if the email had an actionable item in it. He is the one who virtually electronically signs the email, accepting that he has received the mail and that he will action on it, unless he explicitly writes back saying that he disagrees to the actions.

This importance of the “To” box is often forgotten. Emails that you receive are blindly forwarded to others without even checking on who is the person to act on the email.

The person who you think has to definitely and compulsorily read the email has to be marked in the “To” box. It is only he or, they if there is a group of people who should be there in the “To” box. The rest of the people who, you think should be kept in the loop  and who should also know about such a mail being sent by you are the ones who should be marked in the “Cc” or, “Bcc” boxes.

Always bear in mind that the person receiving the mail will only give as much importance to it as is required and he will decide this on the basis of the field that his name is appearing on.

A lot of extremely important activities and updates miss the actual intended recipients just because the email sender did not bother to focus on the “To” field.

It would be extremely unprofessional on your part if, you miss the name of the intended recipient from the “To” box. Hence the first lesson in professional emailing is to carefully identify the people who should be marked on the mail in the “To” field and the ones who the mail is to be marked as a carbon copy.

Are your spending more than 12 hours in your office and still unable to complete your work?

Is your team feeling demotivated and unimportant?

If you are wondering, why I asked these two different questions that has no relation with each other, then think again!! These two questions are related to each other.

I have still not forgotten that day, when my boss walked into my room once late in the evening just as he was passing by the office and found me still in the office. He looked at me and asked me, “What are you doing in office so late”? I had a sarcastic look in my eyes and replied, “Boss, I am trying to complete my work”. My boss responded with an even more sarcastic look and said, “If you cannot complete your work in 8 hours of office time, you cannot do it in 16 hours”. I felt insulted and disappointed. After a few minutes when I tried to decipher what was the inherent meaning of this statement, I learnt the biggest lesson of my life.

If you cannot complete your work in 8 hours of office time, you will not be able to complete it in 16 hours.

In my further discussion with my manager he told me how to work effectively in order to complete things in time. A lot of these discussions were around effectively delegating work.

What is Effective Delegation?

Are you someone who delegates all of your work to your team members and prefer being an audience? Or, do you delegate very little or, no work?

Effective delegation involves carefully assessing each of team members’ skills and competencies. Your team members will have specific areas of interests. There would be certain other areas on which they need to work some more and some others in which they are masters.

The key to effective delegation involves the following -

  1. Delegating activities which are of utmost priority to team members who are masters in it.
  2. Delegating critical activities to people who have an interest in those areas.
  3. Delegating less critical activities that have some time to completion to people who are not experts in these areas and who require some grooming.

Though these could act as guidelines to deciding on how to delegate work, these might not be necessary rules to delegating. Effective delegation could involve a combination of all of these aspects. At times your decision could also be based on the composition of your team. Whatever the basis of decision, you need to bear in mind that your delegation should not in any way hamper the deliver-ability of the activities being assigned.

A few other aspects that you should need to keep in mind while deciding on how to delegate -

  • Keep in mind, not to put somebody in charge of someone which whom they have a negative relationship.
  • While delegating you should keep the “favoritism” aspect out of the decision making process. Delegate unbiased.
  • You would not want to loose control of the situation and become vulnerable. Do not delegate everything that is important and put the burden on the shoulders of somebody else. Keep somethings that are important with you and stay in control. Keep on eye on everything that is happening around you.

It is often found that a lot of bosses delegate everything and finally find themselves at the edge of the cliff with no way to go. Don’t loose control of the situation ever.

Delegation and Motivation -

Every employee wants to be identified and wants some extra responsibility so that he can show his worth. He starts to develop a monotony with the activities that he has been doing everyday. There starts to develop a lack of sense of belongingness. They begin to distance themselves from the team and the team leader.

The gradual shift of the team member from the team and the feeling of not being important is the core of demotivation and loss of production. Delegation can take care of this to a great extent.

Additional responsibilities will make them feel important. They will learn and acquire new skills thus making their work even more exciting and interesting. They will identify themselves with the team and the leader.

I still remember once of the employee in a team of mine who had a huge problem in outage. His leaves exceeded much more that then entire team taken together and he has a reason every time he went on an unapproved leave. He was given the responsibility of outage management for the team. He had to approve leaves for the team. Gradually over a period of time, I observed that he became very efficient and kept his outage within control because he had to answer every other team member if he disapproved their application. Also he had the responsibility to ensure that the team’s outage is within control.

Delegation can do a world of good for your team members in motivating them and upskilling them in their career aspirations.

Do you really have to rely on your networking skills in order to grow in your organization?

This era is of networking. Business have taken to networking in order to connect with their customers because they know that it is the network that they create with their customers that will get them more and more customers. Stats have proven that networking has indeed helped businesses multiply their sales and their profits.

So when businesses have taken to networking, why shouldn’t networking play a role in your growth in an organization. And it is true that networking indeed plays a big role in your career growth in your organization.

If that is the last thing you wanted to hear then, career development is not for you.

When I as a manager, sees a vacant position in my department or, line of business as they call it these days, my worries are about the process that I will have to follow to pick the best person. Interviews, written tests etc. are the normal parts of the process and even after exercising restraints and judicious decision making, I still happen to get the wrong guy into my department. This only marks the beginning of a long and tiring journey in motivating, counseling, reprimanding etc. etc.

Interviews and discussions have more or, less become staged role-plays. The interviewee knows what will be asked and also knows what is the expected response to the question. Impressing an interviewer is not difficult if you are even slightly focused. Though there are extremely talented interviewers who are able to count the pulse of a person just by looking at the way he is responding to a question, most interviewers are not that talented and have to depend on the 1-2-3s of recruitment and interviewing techniques that they have learnt in trainings. A lot of negative aspects of the candidates, hence go un-identified and you end up picking the wrong person. The end-result – CHAOS and TROUBLE.

Why would I want to take that risk, when I have an alternate way of picking the best of the lot?

I would prefer talking to my colleagues and peers in various departments and organizations and ask them to refer candidates they think are the best fit for the role that I have in mind. Professionals, if they are and friends that they are, they would refer people they know and who have a proven track record. Though I am ruling out the possibility of a mis-fit being referred, still I would prefer this channel to the other.

This is where networking comes into the picture. If you have a strong network with your co-workers and superiors and with people in the department that you wish to get into as per your career plan, the likely hood of a referral for you by one of these is much higher and the chances of you getting the role is also much higher.

So wouldn’t you like to network better now?

In a later post we can discuss about what all are the things to bear in mind if you are to successfully network.

CAPM stands for Certified Associate in Project Management and the certification is generally for people pursuing a career in project management or, wanting to assist and improve the general success of a project as a team member in their area of expertise. The CAPM certification is an entry level certification that aspiring project managers are encouraged to begin with.

With this credential, employers and interviewers can be confident that you can efficiently carry out the jobs entrusted to you.

It also states that you are serious and dedicated about your work because obtaining a credential requires dedication and discipline.

When applying for a job, many employers will give preference to candidates with PMI certifications over a candidate who does not have any such certification. They have an idea of what to expect from a credential holder as opposed to someone else with the same amount of experience with no credential. A credential will present your resume with an edge and allow more possibilities to hone your skills and foster enough experience to eventually become a PMP.

To be eligible for the CAPM, you must fulfill certain requirements. You must have a bare minimum of a high school diploma or, global equivalent and acquired 1,500 documented hours of work on a project team, or enroll in 23 hours of project management courses. These requirements have to be completed at the time of application. You must then pass the three hours, 150 questions exam that’s based on the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge) guide.

It is highly recommended that you prepare yourself for the exam by taking a training course. If possible, you should take courses that add to college credits or, PDUs (These are Professional Development Units that you will need to maintain your PMP credential). Courses can be very intensive and lasts about 16 to 40 hours. For best results, the exam should be taken right after the course so that information is still retained in the memory.

One should not underestimate the value of a CAPM certification. The benefits of education, experience, and opportunity it imparts to a person serious about professional advancement, commands respect and can not be overlooked. Aspiring project managers are encouraged to obtain this entry level certificate to launch their journey of becoming a project management professional.


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Project management professionals from across the world, all have a goal of climbing the ladder to success while doing great things along the way and challenging themselves to see what their strengths are. They want to be acknowledged for all the hard work they put into the company. PMI certifications can fullfill this ambition that many professionals have..

PMI credentials have gained recognition throughout the world so much that regardless of where you go, you will be looked upon with admiration because you were able to obtain what many in your professional community were not.

Businesses all over the world will place you at a higher level than other workers because they trust that you are dedicated and serious to whatever projects you are given.

Not anyone who applies for a credential will become certified. PMI certification requires candidates to satisfy a set amount of extensive education and actual experience prior to taking the exam. They have to prove that they’re able to work with various project management situations.

Acquiring a PMI certification will not only allow you to be recognized all over the world for your project management skills, but you will get to benefit from other indirect effects that a credential will have.

Your knowledge of project management will increase along with your skills. Your hard work will prove beneficial as you learn more about the art of project management. Your salary may increase because you are now more knowledgeable and experienced than ever before. Your self confidence will reach new heights while your peers look upon your with high regard.

Types of PMI certifications -

There are five PMI credentials that you can apply for based on your level of education and experience.

Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) – The CAPM contributes as team members in their area of expertise.

PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP) – Holders of this credential are experts in project scheduling management.

PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP) – These credential holders are experienced in project risk management.

Project Management Professional (PMP) – The PMP leads the project.

Program Management Professional (PgMP) – The PgMP oversees, defines, and initiates multiple projects.

Each PMI certification requires a set amount of education and experience before you can take the exam. For example, PMP certification requirements include a high school diploma and 5 years of experience with a minimum of 7,500 hours of leading and directing project tasks and 35 hours of formal project management education. Applicants with a four year degree need 3 years of project management experience with a minimum of 4,500 hours of leading and directing project tasks along with the 35 hours of project management education

As you can see, meeting the requirements will need a lot of time, effort and dedication on your part. You will also have to prepare for the lengthy exams by studying hard and taking exam simulations and joining training courses.

Getting a PMI certification is not easy, but becoming a credential holder tells a lot about who you are, what you’ve done and what you’re capable of. It shows that while you were climbing the ladder of success, even though there was a higher level of step that seemed unreachable, you persevered and attained your goal because you knew how important that next step would be for yourself and for the projects that companies will entrust you with. PMI certifications can not be achieved by just anyone, but only by those who have the work ethics and determination to take on tough projects and situations.


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