In my line of work, I receive a lot of emails. I also send a lot of emails. Though social media and messaging apps have taken over some of the roles from email as a form of communication, email is likely to retain an important role for business communication in the future. Surprisingly, though, a lot of companies and organizations lack formal guidelines for emailing. As most of you will soon be entering the workforce, I would like to share with you my own rules for emailing. If someone sends you an email, reply to them acknowledging the email. A simple “thank you” let the sender know that their email has arrived safely, that it has not been lost among what could be 50 other emails that have arrived in your email inbox that day. It’s not necessary to reply to a mass email sent to numerous recipients. These emails are often informative rather than personalized correspondence requiring a response or action. But it’s common politeness to respond to a personal message, preferably within 24 hours of receiving it. It’s also important to use proper English. Just because emails are a quick form of communication, doesn’t mean emails, especially business emails, should be written using informal shortened forms of words. Think of an email as a letter. Spelling, grammar and punctuation should not be overlooked. And never use capitals to emphasize a word or words in an email. It’s the same as yelling.