Please ... don't hit the send button: business email etiquette.

• Author: Curry, Lynne
• Position: HR Matters

Please ... don't hit the send button--the consequences may bury you. Written in haste, emails memorialize typos, misspellings, hastily written accusations and snippy retorts to their authors' later regret.

Before you press your finger, consider--what if your email takes an unintentional cyber-detour? Do you really want what you just wrote going out the way it looks?

Ticked off at his boss, "Mike" spent 20 minutes composing a "Letterman list" detailing his boss's top 10 flaws, smiling as he hit send. Only minutes later he got the reaction he wanted when he heard hysterical laughter from his co-workers. Unfortunately, the boss chose that minute to walk past, asking: "What's so funny?" When an unprepared co-worker choked, the boss glanced at the co-worker's screen, said: "Print that for me," and invited Mike in for a chat.

Jean experienced her own version of a Freudian send. When she received a lengthy email from a lucrative but difficult-to-manage client, she wrote: "what an SOB," forwarding her comment and the offending email to her co-worker. Unfortunately, she hit reply rather than forward. After she lost the client, she said "Okay, so he learned I couldn't stand him--it was the truth." Despite her brave front, Jean paid for her moment of truth with a lost client.

If you've experienced the sudden heartbeat cessation or whoosh of air from your lungs with the realization you sent an awkward email, remember these safer truths:

EMAILS AREN'T SPEECH

Because emails stream from our fingers quickly, we treat them like speech rather than written documents. Unlike spoken words, which eventually dissipate even if remembered and passed on from one person to another, emails last forever, forwarded in their original glory. Save yourself embarrassment by letting all emotional emails "sit" at least four hours before pressing send.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

EMALLS REFLECT YOU

You wouldn't wear a stained shirt when you want to look your best. Don't then send emails to relative strangers with typos, misspellings and grammar gaffes.

Add politeness to your emails with "thanks" and "please." Particularly if you work in customer relations, remember to start with a friendly: "Thanks for your inquiry," rather than an officious: "Re: your email of 7/5."

STOP SHOUTING IN PRINT

Lured by a false sense of security, many write in emails what they wouldn't dare say in face-to-face interactions. Unfortunately, you can't hit undo once you hit send and your provoking comments...