Address Blocks in E-mail?

A site visitor writes:

What is the proper etiquette for an address block in an e-mail? My boss is rather electronically illiterate and would like all letters sent by e-mail to have a formal address block at the top. My coworkers and I feel this wastes space and looks strange.

I actually get asked this quite often! Apparently a good portion of bosses are “technochallenged.” Address blocks as used in formal off-line letters are not used at the top of e-mails because you are not sending to a physical address — you are sending to an e-mail address as noted in the To: field.

Not sure where your boss got the impression that is the way it should be done. Although business e-mail should be approached with a professional tone, some things simply do not apply to e-mail as they would on off-line business letterhead. This is one of those issues.

You and your coworkers are correct — now how to tell your boss!? Maybe send him/her to my Business E-mail Etiquette Blog, particularly my article on Business E-mail Basics so they are then aware of the issues that do need to be considered.

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