�鶹��Ƶ

Email is an essential communication tool for �鶹��Ƶ (SFU) employees. Business decisions, key communications, and important information are regularly shared by email. The volume, variety and velocity of email received by �鶹��Ƶemployees can make managing email a difficult task.

This guideline provides �鶹��Ƶemployees with information that will help them organize, manage, retain, and dispose of their email in accordance with records management best practices, and is divided into the following sections: 

1. Email Etiquette
2. Managing and Organizing Email
3. Protecting Sensitive Information
4. Email Account Use
5. Retention and Disposition of Email
6. Guidance for �鶹��ƵLeaders

Email Etiquette

Email that is sent or received from an �鶹��Ƶemail account is subject to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). This means that your email may be included in an FIPPA request and potentially disclosed to the public. By maintaining a professional tone, using professional greetings, keeping your fonts simple and classic, and proofreading your messages before sending them you can ensure that your email is an accurate reflection of the work that you do.

Listed below are some tips for ensuring proper email etiquette.

• Keep email messages to a single topic.
• Avoid mixing personal messages with business messages.
• Create clear and descriptive subject lines.
• Use the subject line to indicate actions, purpose and due dates.
• Use your signature block for all email messages going to recipients outside your department.
• If your email contains important decisions or action, always include your signature block.
• Limit the number of recipients.
• Consider only including recipients who are expected to take action or make a decision on a topic.
• Limit the use of attachments and graphics. Whenever possible, post your documents to a shared location (e.g., Shared Drive, SharePoint, MS Teams) and send a link to the document in the email instead of attaching it.
• If using the Active Directory autofill function when addressing a message, double-check that the correct recipient’s address has been populated.

When to use ‘Reply All’

Use ‘reply all’ when you want to respond to every contact on an email thread. Examples include:

• If your response will impact at least 50% of the people on the email thread;
• If others on the email thread will be confused if they don’t see your response.
• If you are on an email thread with a small group of people working on the same project;
• If you think others on the email thread might have the same question you have; or
• If your manager solicits feedback from everyone on the email thread.

Do not use ‘Reply All’

There are several situations when you should not use “Reply All” in an email. Examples include:

• If your response is only pertinent to the sender
• If you only want to reply to a few people on the list

Cc vs Bcc

Cc (carbon copy) and Bcc (blind carbon copy) are used to include additional recipients on an email thread. Use Cc when you want the list of recipients to be visible to all recipients. Use Bcc when you want to keep the contact list hidden from everyone.