Email Guidance

Please remember all emails must be acknowledged within three working days and answered in full within 10 working days. These are maximum standards. Aim to respond to emails by the end of the next working day (would you want to wait two weeks for a response?).

Language and Tone

Top Tip: Put yourself in the customer’s shoes and respond accordingly. Recognise their feelings (as they have expressed them), acknowledge how they see the situation and move forward

  • Address your email to the author – check how they have written their name at the bottom of the email and use that
  • Use font Arial 11 or 12
  • Use black text, colour can be hard to read
  • Avoid writing in CAPITALS as this is SHOUTING! For emphasis, use italics
  • Use friendly and straight forward language. Avoid jargon. Be human!
  • Avoid casting blame. Even if we use contractors they are acting on our behalf
  • Take ownership by using ‘I’, ‘Us’ and ‘We’ rather than ‘the Council’ or ‘MVDC’
  • Never write down anything you wouldn’t say to the person’s face · Be empathetic – see separate empathy guidance
  • Use headings to break up your email and make it clear to the reader
  • Bullet points are great
  • If you are cutting and pasting information from the website or from another email, always change the font for your whole message (highlight whole thing) to make sure it looks consistent
  • Keep your emails brief and to the point
  • Try to avoid ‘but’, ‘however’ and ‘unfortunately’ · Read the guidance on punctuation and grammar.
  • When out of the office or unavailable, set up an ‘out of office’ and include your working hours/days and when you will be back

Formal Correspondence

If you need to email a formal letter then make this an attachment and use your covering email to explain why you are sending the letter and briefly what it is about. This makes it easier for the recipient to understand and enables them to see you as more approachable.

Confidentiality

Remember all emails are potentially subject to Freedom of Information and Subject Access Rights requests.

If you do want to email something confidentially, say so in the subject heading or at the top of the email. Consider whether any further explanation is required, for example making it clear that this means information must not be made available to third parties without prior approval. Remember that even with these precautions in place, it may still be necessary to release your email under FOI or SAR.

Finishing Off

  • Try to end your email with something positive such as a way forward, or thanking them for bringing something to your attention
  • Always sign off from your emails as it is courteous, and it confirms that the message is finished. It is fine to close with ‘Best wishes’ or ‘Kind regards’ or similar and always give your name
  • Always proof-read before you send
  • Add the safe send feature to your Outlook – it gives you a two minute window to amend your email before it goes (e.g. when you realise you have forgotten to include an attachment). See the ‘Email signature‘ page to see our corporate style
  • If you work part-time, ensure your signature includes your working days/hours so that you are managing the recipient’s expectations

Signature Banners

To update your signature with a promotional banner, please see the ‘Email Signature‘ page.

Email Stress

If you are struggling with the volume of emails you are getting, Staff Hub have put together some useful guidance on Reducing the Stress of Emails.