This document provides guidelines for internal email communication at the Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit organization. It outlines best practices for fields like "to", "cc", "subject", priorities, signatures, out of office notifications, and conflict resolution. The guidelines aim to facilitate effective and clear email traffic while avoiding excessive size. Important emails must be printed and filed according to the organization's record keeping directives.

1. Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit
September 2010
Internal email communication guidelines
Analysis of problems
Despite the advantage of email as a means of
communication there are also quite a few drawbacks which
result from increase as well as complexity of email traffic.
Particularly the practice of adding additional recipients (‘to’)
as well as copy recipients (‘cc’) in emails proves to be a
disadvantage for the handling and clarity of email traffic.
This paper should be a guideline for the daily use of email as
a means of communication. It contains a set of rules which,
once being accepted staff members, will facilitate the easy
and effective handling of daily email traffic.
Guidelines for internal communication
1. The address field (‘to’) beckons the recipient that a response
is expected. Please bear in mind that only one recipient
should be addressed unless the content concerns other
recipients as well and their response is desired.
2. The carbon copy field (‘cc’) signals that the email should be
noted. However, no reaction is needed.
3. The field ‘subject’ contains the subject of the message.
This should be phrased in such a manner that facilitates
prioritizing of and (later) searching for the message.
4. The use of the option ‘urgent priority’ is only allowed if a
reaction is necessary within a short time-frame (e.g.
within 24 hours).
5. When replying to an email, the option ‘Reply without
Attachment(s)’ should be chosen. This prevents a possible
strain of the FNF network due to excessive email size.
6. The option ‘Reply to All’ may only be used if a response
from all recipients is absolutely necessary. Chose the
option ‘Reply without Attachments’, if possible.
7. The content of the email has to accurately describe the
matter in hand and the desired reaction. For example:
‘please take note’, ‘action necessary’, etc. (Central questions:
What? Who? How? Why? Until when?)
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2. Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit
September 2010
8. To facilitate further handling, only one matter should be
addressed per email.
9. In case of absence for more than one working day, an
electronic ‘out of office note’ should be set up. Please mention
the contact person in your absence.
10.Every email has to contain the signature of the
addressor, including full contact details (cp. CD manual).
11. Comprehensive information regarding national and
international change of staff should only be given if the
staff in question is in contact with all national and
international personnel. In other cases a note to relevant
working unit is sufficient.
12.Specific regulations for the IP department: Only the
Section Head IP and regional departments need to be
informed of office closures due to holidays/vacation/etc.
Regional Departments can be contacted regarding
availability of regional offices.
13.Specific regulations for the PBB department: Only the
Section Head PBB and other operation units need to be
informed of an operation unit’s temporary closure due
to holidays. The Section Head can be contacted
regarding the availability of operation units.
14.Communication via email has the potential to prolong
conflicts. In case of conflict it is advisable to seek
personal dialogue. This applies in particular to long
lasting email correspondence if it is evident that no
conflict solution can be found.
The FNF is subject to compulsory periods of record-keeping
as stipulated in tax, commercial, and subsidy law. Therefore,
the FNF directive regarding the safekeeping of business
records (Richtlinie für die Aufbewahrung von Geschäftsunterlagen in der
Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit), dated 01/06/1999, also
applies to email communication. Important emails are to be
printed and filed until final settlement with the various
funding bodies has been reached.
Staff C+E
09/09/2010
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