The fundamental rule about email communication is that everyone should adapt their mode of communication to the situation and the communication partner in an appropriate way. This is usually something learnt intuitively. Here, some general rules are stated that should help develop such intuitive understanding.
We differentiate between internal email communication (within our clinic, within our faculty) and external communication. Some „internal“ communication (e.g. with professors of other clinics) should follow the standard of „external“ communication; some contacts to collaborators that are like friends evidently can follow the standards of „internal“ communication.
External communication:
- Try to make a good impression by using
- a proper address (“Dear Sir”, “Sehr geehrte Frau”), always including the academic title (Prof., Dr.). You can leave out the title if you have the same (if you are a Dr., you need not necessarily address another Dr. as “Dr.”; if you are ‘only’ a Dr. you should always address another Prof. as “Prof.”), but in the case of first contacts, we suggest you mention the title nevertheless. If you respond to an email, use the address the other person used.
- one short courtesy sentence like “I hope this email finds you well” – do not start the email with your question/intent “I need your help”. One courtesy sentence is enough, start your intent after that.
- be as short as possible. Long texts in emails are considered impolite by many people.
- finish the text with a courtesy line, like “thank you very much for your attention/support/consideration” or “if you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me”
- finish the email with a formal closure such as “Sincerely” or “all the best”, “mit freundlichen Grüssen”
- do not use abbreviations (“mfg”)
Internal communication:
- Keep our internal communication polite and effective by using
- as an Address the name of the person you communicate with (you can add “dear” or “good morning” or – if this is your mutual agreement “hi” or similar; do not address people higher in the hierarchy than yourself by colloquialisms unless they have invited you to do so)
- a courtesy sentence is not necessary
- be as short as possible. Long texts in emails are impolite. Especially doctoral students sending progress reports via email tend to write really long emails. Please avoid that. If you have several different questions that require different steps of preparation by your communication partner, consider writing an email per question rather than putting a lot of questions in one email.
- in internal communication, you are welcome to use abbreviations like “mfg” as closure and an abbreviation for your name
If you want someone to do something, the email address of that person should be in the “to” field. Use the “cc” field EXCLUSIVELY for the email addresses of people you do not want to respond to your email but who you just want to inform. Never use the “bcc” function (blind copies).
E-mail management:
Please put your emails into folders that are labelled in a clear manner; best either by project name or by the name of the communication partner.
When receiving multiple emails by your supervisor, treat them as a to do-list.
