Appropriate Use of Email

Complete the interactive activities in the Seneca app to work towards your CPD certificate.

Advice for Using Email Appropriately

How can we ensure that we use email in a way that helps and doesn’t hinder, and what can we do when it’s being abused in full defiance of the email etiquette? Below is some advice.

Advice for senior leaders

Set the tone for your school and be explicit in your boundaries. What is your whole-school approach to email?
If you want to make a valid and profound increase in productivity and colleague relationships, and a decrease in work-related stress, consider the guidelines you collectively adhere to as a school.

Examples for senior leaders

Are there specified no-email points for staff once they leave work?
Are emails in your school concise, clear and as short as possible?
Are emails polite and positive in language?
Do you speak directly with staff that misuse the guidelines, without resorting to blanket emails that chastise?
Are staff reminded of these key messages regarding email, so that you are regularly endorsing a really healthy email culture?

Deciding whether or not to email

If you are unsure about sending, ask yourself: is this sent to the right person, at the right time, giving the right timescale for the right reason? How would it feel to be the recipient of this email?

Propose email boundaries

If your senior leadership team haven’t set boundaries for email, propose it!
If you’re not quite there, then there are some measures you can take to ensure that as a serial recipient, your guidelines are clear to others.
There are some example measures on the next slides.

Set & stick to an auto-response

Set an auto-response: you teach and so are able to check email sporadically but aim to respond within two business days.
Once the groundwork of an auto-response has been laid, don’t fall into the trap of short back-and-forth emails to attempt to resolve something quickly. The quickfire exchange is scientifically proven to result in nothing except more confusion at best, and the need for a meeting at worst.

Give emails your full attention

Avoid engaging in email responses when you are doing something else at the same time.
- Give someone’s concerns or queries your full attention, or schedule for a time that you are able to do so. If the reply will be any more than a couple of lines, give two options for a chat at a time that suits you. That way, you still control the demands of your working week.