E-etiquette is a hot topic of conversation in organisations
at the moment and it motivated me to write yet another
article on the subject. Companies are spending thousands
of Rands on training and coaching staff to reinforce new
behaviours in order to achieve true professionalism in
the workplace.
By requiring employees to act professionally at all times
in the workplace – even when communicating electronically,
employers can improve the overall effectiveness and image
of the organisation.
Companies are finding ways in which to implement more
stringent email and Internet rules for the following three
reasons:
 |
Professionalism:
by using effective communication skills in emails
your company will convey a professional image. |
|
Efficiency:
emails that get to the point and achieve a specific
desired outcome improve efficiency and efficacy. |
|
Protection
from liability: creating awareness
of email risks may protect your company from costly
lawsuits. Emails are admissible as evidence in court. |
Manage your emails more professionally by taking note
of the following:
| 1. |
Be
concise and to the point. Do not
make an email longer than it needs to be. |
| |
|
| 2. |
Answer
all questions, and pre-empt further questions.
An email reply must answer all questions fully,
pre-empt further questions and deal with all relevant
issues. |
| |
|
| 3. |
Answer
all emails. When clients and colleagues
send emails requesting a response it is unprofessional
not to reply. When they ask questions or need your
opinion or advice, give it. Your organisation expects
it of you. |
| |
|
| 4. |
Do
not attach unnecessary files. By
sending large attachments you can annoy clients
and even bring down their email system. Wherever
possible try to compress attachments and only send
attachments when they are productive and necessary. |
| |
|
| 5. |
Do
not overuse the high priority option.
If you are known to overuse the high priority option,
you will not be taken seriously when you really
need to be. |
| |
|
| 6. |
Don't
leave out the message thread. When
you reply to an email, you must include the original
mail in your reply, in other words click 'Reply',
instead of 'New Mail'. Some people say that you
must remove the previous message since this has
already been sent and is therefore unnecessary.
However, I could not agree less. If you receive
many emails you obviously cannot remember each individual
email. This means that a 'thread-less email' will
not provide enough information and you will have
to spend a frustratingly long time to find out the
context of the email in order to deal with it. |
| |
|
| 7. |
Do
not overuse Reply to All. Only use
Reply to All if you really need your message to
be seen by each person who received the original
message. Bombarding people with messages meant for
someone else is not ok. |
| |
|
| 8. |
Use
Bcc: If you send an email to more
than one recipient, use Bcc instead of publicising
everyone else's email addresses without their consent. |
| |
|
| 9. |
Do
not forward chain letters. Forwarding
chain letters is unproductive and is viewed as unprofessional
conduct. |
| |
|
| 10. |
Do
not request delivery and read receipts.
This will almost always annoy your recipient before
he or she has even read your message. Besides, it
usually does not work anyway since the recipient
can decide whether to send it or not. |
| |
|
| 11. |
Do
not use email to discuss confidential information.
There is no such thing as confidentiality in emails.
Your company has the right to check everyone’s
emails. |
| |
|
| 12. |
Avoid
using URGENT and IMPORTANT. Even
more so than the high-priority option, you must
try to avoid these words in an email or subject
line. Only use it if it is a really, really urgent
or important message. You will not be taken seriously
if you are known for doing this. |
| |
|
| 13. |
Don't
send or forward emails containing libellous, defamatory,
offensive, racist or obscene remarks.
By sending or even just forwarding one libellous,
or offensive remark in an email, you and your company
can face lawsuits resulting in multi-million Rand
claims. |
| |
|
| 14. |
Use
cc: field sparingly. Try not to
use the cc: field unless the recipient in the cc:
field knows why they are receiving a copy of the
message. Using the cc: field can be confusing since
the recipients might not know who is supposed to
act on the message. Make sure that this person knows
why he/she is receiving a copy. |
| |
|
| 15. |
What
ever happened to personal interaction and discussion?
Emails do not and should not replace personal interaction
and discussion. You cannot write an email to avoid
having an all important face-to-face meeting or
discussion. Human contact is paramount for building
relationships with others. |
| |
|
| 16. |
Writing
emails all day does not mean that you are productive
Writing emails all day is a form of procrastination.
What are you avoiding doing? Prioritise your work
and decide to spend less time composing and answering
emails. |
| |
|
| 17. |
A
phone call may be a much better option. An
issue may be sorted out more effectively by speaking
directly to the person involved, instead of sending
emails backwards and forwards all day. |
By Elsabé Manning
