COLOMBO : Emails are a universally accepted, formal means of communication. Sending, receiving, acknowledging and responding to emails are important business activities which cannot be compromised.
If someone tries to call you and you don’t pick up the phone, they know that you were not contactable. If the two infamous blue ticks do not appear, the sender knows that you have not read the WhatsApp message. The same cues are not available to someone who sends you an email; unless you create it.
You don’t need IT to sit and help you and you certainly do not need a masters degree to learn to activate the ‘Out of Office Mail’ or ‘Automatic Responder’ in your email account. So don’t give excuses; instead, please activate it in each of the following instances:
01.You are on leave half/ full day or longer for whatever reason
02.You are at a conference or other business activity where you would not be contactable for a day
03.There is a holiday in the middle of the week that your usual mailers would not know of (this is particularly important, when you deal with foreign parties as they would not be familiar with local holidays)
There is nothing tackier than getting back to the person after a business explosion has taken place and saying ‘Oh sorry, I was not in office the last two days’.
Here is what needs to be included in this automated mail:
a. When and until when you will not be able to respond (include times if pertinent)
b. Whom they should try to reach in your absence (read the note below on alternate contacts)
c. Contact information of such people
d. An emergency number to reach you on, if required and ONLY if you are comfortable in providing same
Your alternate contacts should ideally be people within your team who would be able to look into most matters in your absence. Avoid including superiors unless absolutely necessary. Prior to mentioning anyone in the automated mail, you must obtain their consent and contact information that is permissible to be included in the mail. If you handle multiple areas; feel free to get permission from multiple persons who would be able to attend to each respective area in your absence. These people in turn, should be in office and available throughout your absence.
Enjoy your vacation or conference without feeling edgy all the time by ensuring that there is a strong line of defense handling the work while you are away and keeping all stakeholders informed of it.
If you have any other moments of guilt and think Full of Etiquette can help you, write to us at fullofetiquette@gmail.com.
Till I return with ‘Full of Etiquette’ next week, stay safe!
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Praveeni Jayasekera is the Founder and Editor of fullofetiquette.com; she is a regular advocate on the subject. She is an ACMA, CGMA; holds a BSc. Economics and Management; PG in IT and Diploma in Social Sciences. She is employed full time in the capacity of Chief Operating Officer at CL Synergy (Private) Limited; a Sri Lankan freight forwarding company. She is an ardent fan of the written word and has compiled content for numerous websites for search engine optimization (SEO) purposes, corporate profiles and blogs. She has experience in training corporate professionals on customer service and business etiquette. She conducts coaching sessions on etiquette for school children every now and then.
