Section Sponsored by:

Spam, chain letters, off-color jokes-these are just a few elements that annoy business professionals when it comes to daily e-mail. While you might not be sending any of these things, what if your e-mails are just as annoying?

Unfortunately, many people unknowingly are irritating coworkers and clients with poor e-mail etiquette. Even worse, the offenders are tarnishing their reputations in the process, unaware that their e-mails reflect their personal and company brand, their image and their credibility.

If you've ever wondered why people don't take action on your e-mails or why this productivity tool seems to waste more of your time than it saves, you may be guilty of an e-mail faux pas. To increase the effectiveness of your e-mails, avoid these top five e-mail pet peeves in the workplace:

1. Having sensitive conversations via e-mail-Sensitive and emotionally charged conversations have no place in an e-mail. If you need to fire someone, express disappointment or apologize, do it face-to-face (most preferred) or via phone. When a message has emotion behind it, the recipient naturally escalates that feeling when reading the e-mail.

Why? Because it's virtually impossible to display emotion in an e-mail (aside from some carefully placed emoticons, which not everyone appreciates), and humans by nature look for the worst in a message rather than the best. So your innocent question of "Why did you call Mr. Smith?" gets read as accusation, as if you had asked, "Why on earth did you of all people call Mr. Smith and bother him?"

Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that many people write things in an e-mail that they would never say in person. Without being face-to-face, they view e-mail as a way to have "safe" conflict so they may snap back at someone sarcastically or slam someone professionally or personally.

Some people even enjoy this type of conflict because it gives them a charge. The bottom line is that if your message has any type of intense emotion behind it, don't send it. The matter is best addressed in a face-to-face meeting or phone call.

2. Using reply-all versus reply-Just because you were one of many recipients on a message does not mean everyone needs to read your reply. For example, a supervisor may send a group message out to the entire department asking who will be present at the quarterly meeting. The only person who needs to see your response is the person who initiated the message, not the entire group. If the group contains 100 people and each one sends a reply-all message saying, "I'll be there," you'll have a very cluttered inbox and 100 annoyed people.

Think carefully about who needs to see the message before you reply. Obviously, if your company requires that you send a reply-all for business e-mails, then by all means do so. Otherwise, use the reply-all button judiciously. And remember that with a reply-all, everyone- even someone who was in the BCC line-will see your comments. So you never really know who is getting your message.

3. Using poor grammar and spelling-A typo every now and then is not a big deal; however, consistent bad grammar and spelling are obnoxious. E-mail is a form of written communication, so respect the written word. Additionally, this is business, and everything you do, say and write is a reflection of your professionalism.

When people read your messages, naturally they make a judgment about you based on your writing. If your writing is poor, everything else about you is in question. After all, if you don't care enough about your writing, what else don't you care about? Your product? Your service? The reader?

Remember that the written word stays out there forever, and no e-mail message is ever really deleted permanently. Make sure your lasting impressions are good ones.

4. E-mailing complicated information-E-mail is best suited for short messages that don't require a lengthy response. If you have to give someone technical, detailed or complicated information, make a phone call and follow up with an e-mail rather than relying solely on e-mail communication.

If your e-mail is more than a couple of paragraphs, pick up the phone and talk to the recipient. Use the follow-up e-mail to send needed documentation or a recap of your verbal instructions, but don't expect people to read and act upon a lengthy or complicated message.

Additionally, if you receive a detailed message and need time to work on the reply, send back a short acknowledgment message that states, "I received your message and am working on the needed items." And if the reply requires real discussion, then pick up the phone and talk about it.

Don't rely on e-mail for every topic.

5. Writing bad subject lines or not using subject lines-Unless you're doing e-mail marketing and relying on your messages to sell people, use straightforward subject lines that reflect the true purpose of the message. Leave the cute and clever wording to the marketers. For day-to-day business, a plain and direct style works best. So rather than have a subject line that reads, "Want to pick your brain," write, "Need your input on the Jones project."

Realize, too, that many people use their e-mail as a filing system, and they rely on the subject lines to find key information later. So if all your subject lines are vague (as in "A message from Tom Smith" or "Info you requested") or non-existent, people won't know what the message was about when they search their files later.

Always write detailed subject lines, as in "Dates for Singapore conference" or "Files for Smith project." And should the e-mail's subject change as the conversation progresses, then change the subject line to reflect the new theme.

Get Your Message Across-E-mail certainly has come a long way in the past two decades. What initially was viewed as a novel way to share key information in the '90s is now the preferred method of business communication. But remember, just because something is commonplace doesn't mean you can become lazy with it.

Always use e-mail properly, keeping in mind the purposes and subjects for which it was intended. By doing so, not only will you avoid these pet peeves, but you'll also increase your productivity as you enhance your professional reputation.

Jean Kelley is president and founder of the Jean Kelley Leadership Consulting and the author of Get A Job; Keep A Job. As the sole owner of Jean Kelley Personnel for 25 years, she personally helped more than 20,000 clients enhance their careers. Coupled with her other book, Dear Jean: What They Don't Teach You at the Water Cooler, Ms. Kelley has positioned herself as a go-to workplace coach. For more information: www.jeankelley.com.