5.1.7 Email etiquette

2. Basic rules

• "Every e-mail must be answered!" 
  It is recommended to respond to emails within 24 hours if they arrive during business hours. 
  However, if you are the sender give the recipient about the same time to respond. 
  
  You don't have to face each other and the recipient of the e-mail can only read it later, but we still expect an answer from him or her or at least a short a reply or at least a brief acknowledgement that the e-mail has arrived. For this reason, we should answer all e-mails, except of course newsletters, spam or advertising e-mails.
   
•  "There is no need to be rude! 
  Since you are not face to face with the recipient of the email, you sometimes have a tendency to put something you don't like or that didn't go well in a harsher way than in a face-to-face conversation.
  
  Therefore, when writing, you should take a step back and be a little more cautious and remain polite. 
   
  Since you can't see the other person's facial expressions and gestures when communicating by e-mail, it is sometimes difficult to interpret what is meant by what is written and how it is to be understood.
  
  Therefore, when writing e-mails of e-mails, you should pay attention to your own choice of words. 
  
  
• Telephone in time! 
  If the text of the e-mail is difficult to understand or not meaningful enough, it is often best to ask for a reply by e-mail. A conversation by e-mail can sometimes go back and forth back and forth without it being clear what needs to be done.
   
  In this case, you should pick up the phone in good time and call the other person. In this way many things can be clarified much more quickly.