ELECTRONIC ETIQUETTES

Subject Lines are Headlines

Bad Example Subject: Meeting Hi Jim, I just wanted to remind you about the meeting we have scheduled next week. Do let me know if you have any questions! Best wishes, Mark

 This email is an example of poor communication for several reasons. Let's focus on the headline. As you can see, it's titled "Meeting". Why is this a bad headline? There's no information about the meeting. If your calendar is full of meetings, you might even wonder which one Mark is talking about. And there's certainly no clarity about the subject, or when and where the meeting's being held. The lack of specific information makes it look like a spam email. This email risks being deleted without being read! Also, the tone of the message is that of a friendly reminder. There's nothing wrong with that, but essential details are missing. If Jim hasn't heard anything about the meeting, or has completely forgotten about it, he'll have to write back for more information

 Good Example Subject: Reminder of 10am Meeting Sched. 10/05 on PASS Process. Hi Jim, I just wanted to remind you about the meeting we have scheduled for Monday, October 5, at 10:00am. It's being held in conference room A, and we'll be discussing the new PASS Process. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch (x3024). Best Wishes, Mark

 See how specific this new headline is? The great thing about this headline is that the reader doesn't even have to open the email to get most of the relevant information. And the precise nature of the headline serves as a useful prompt. Every time the reader glances at his saved emails, he'll be reminded about that specific one

Bad Example Subject: Revisions For Sales Report Hi Jackie, Thanks for sending in that report last week. I read through it yesterday and feel that you need more specific information regarding our sales figures in Chapter 2. I also felt that the tone could be a bit more formal. The report is going to be read by our Executive Team, and needs to reflect our professionalism. Also, I wanted to let you know that I've scheduled a meeting with the PR department for this Friday, regarding the new ad campaign. It's at 11:00, and will be in the small conference room. Please let me know if you can make that time. Thanks! Monica

 Monica got a good headline in there, and she was pretty clear on the changes she wanted Jackie to make to that report. The second paragraph about the meeting is pretty important, and yet she lumped it into the email that detailed the revisions. If Jackie doesn't put it straight in her calendar, she'll have to remember that the meeting details were in the email titled "Revisions For Sales Report", which is not very logical. Combining those two important communications increases the chance that either the meeting or the revisions will be forgotten.

Good Example Subject: Revisions For Sales Report Hi Jackie, Thanks for sending in that report last week. I read through it yesterday and feel that you need more specific information regarding our sales figures in Chapter 2. I also felt that the tone could be a bit more formal. The report is going to be read by our Executive Team, and needs to reflect our professionalism. Thanks for your hard work on this! Monica AND Subject: Friday 10/9, 11am Meeting w/PR Dept Hi Jackie, I wanted to let you know that I've scheduled a meeting with the PR department for this Friday, 10/9, regarding the new ad campaign. It's at 11:00am, and will be in the small conference room. Please let me know if you can make that time. Thanks! Monica

 By separating those two important communications, Jackie will be able to find what she needs quickly in her inbox. As well as this, separating the two topics helps her keep her saved emails relevant. Once she's done with the revisions email she can delete it, but keep the meeting reminder email until the end of the week.

Make One Point per Email

One of the advantages of email compared with traditional letters is that it doesn't cost any more to send several emails than it does to send one. So, if you need to communicate with someone about a number of different things, consider writing a separate email on each subject. That way, your correspondent can reply to each one individually and in the appropriate time frame. One topic might only require a short reply, that he or she can send straight away. Another topic might require more research. By writing separate messages, you should get clearer answers, while helping other people manage their inboxes better. If you do want to put several points in an email - perhaps because they relate to the same project - consider presenting each point in a separate, numbered paragraph. This makes each point stand out, significantly increasing the likelihood that each point will be addressed. As with traditional business letters, each individual email should be clear and concise, with the purpose of the message detailed in the very first paragraph. Sentences should be kept short and to the point. The body of the email should contain all pertinent information and should be direct and informative.

Bad Example From: reliablelandscapes@domain.com Subject: Proposal Lynn, Did you get my proposal last week? I haven't heard back and wanted to make sure. Can you please call me so we can discuss? Thanks! Peter

 There are several pieces of important information missing from this email. The first thing that's missing is information about the proposal. What if Lynn got several proposals? Which one is the writer talking about? Also, did he send it by post, or through email? Also, the writer gave Lynn no information on how to get in touch. Where is his office number, his cell number, or his business name? Lynn will have to go and find that information. And, most critically, he didn't give his full name and title at the bottom of the mail - despite the fact that his name doesn't form part of his email address.

Good Example Subject: Checking On Reliable Landscapes Proposal Dear Lynn, I just wanted to check that you have received the landscaping proposal I emailed to you last week. I haven't heard back and wanted to make sure it went through. Can you please call me by Thursday so we can discuss? This is when our discount offer expires, and I want to make sure you don't miss it! The quickest way to contact me is by cell phone. Thanks! Peter Schuell, Owner Reliable Landscaping, Inc. 555.135.4598 (office) 555.135.2929 (cell)

 Peter has now given Lynn all the information she needs. She knows he emailed the proposal last week, that he'd like her to call him by Thursday, and that she should use his cell phone to make contact quickly. Most importantly, Peter included his name and title, so Lynn knows who he is, and put his contact information at the bottom.

Specify the Response You Want

Make sure to include any call to action you want, such as a phone call or follow-up appointment. Then, make sure you include your contact information, including your name, title, and phone numbers. Do this even with internal messages. Remember, the easier you make it for someone else to respond, the more likely they are to do so!

Using EOM Headlines

When you have a very short message to convey, you can use the EOM, or End Of Message, technique. This is possible when you can put all the relevant information in the subject line, followed by the letters "EOM". This lets the recipient know that he or she doesn't even have to open the email; all the information is right there. The subject line is the message! Example Subject: 10/5 Meeting, 10am, Conf. Rm. A, On PASS Procedure EOM

Cyber Postman
Look where you are sending your mail A wrong letter in the address may bounce back the message Worse it goes to a wrong address Wrong receiver may just delete it w/o your knowing You continue to send messages to that address which may be irritating and at times embarrassing for both the parties.

Cyber Postman
Hence put the address into personal address book if you plan to use the address time and again. Double check the spelling Better still copy the address of the sender in your address book Still be extremely careful in clicking the address.

Do Not Mix Pleasure And Work

Use separate web address for personal mails Reason is your office might be having access to your official mail id You might want to share pass word with your colleague if you are on holiday If you change job you need not inform all your acquaintances about the change of your e mail address

Do Not Mix Pleasure And Work

Once you leave a job the co closes your official e mail account You may have a separate account for letters from the net which even if you do not read daily does not hurt you You may clear the inbox in one go just after reading the headlines.

 Email has the permanence of a letter and casualness of a conversation, and that's a dangerous combination," said Dennis Brown, a legal expert in employment practices at Littler Mendelson in San Jose, California. Blunders in Goldman Sach, Tiger Woods life are examples of using official mail id for personal if not very private matters.

 Tourres of Goldman had mail ready to hold you in my arms which had him in thick soup Poor little sub prime borrowers will not last long, another mail of Tourres They get such powers they think no rules apply to them a girl friend of Tiger Woods mailed that to a friend of hers about Tiger Woods Roughly 210 billion emails are sent each day, and emails are sent in error 42 times a minute, according to a 2006 study by Lycos, which operates a network of websites. Therefore click send button deliberately

Internet Is A Glasshouse
Do not put any critical info like credit card numbers and passwords on the e mail The hackers are all around and with strong search engine and strong determination any one can get the info what one wants from your email account

How To Manage Your Mail Box

Reply within twenty four hours Un clutter the mailbox

Reply Within Twenty Four Hours

Speed is the real essence of e mail so do not loose it Check your e mail at least twice daily and more often if need be Scan the mail you get Delete the junk immediately If some can be replied promptly, do so

Reply Within Twenty Four Hours

If reply to a mail is possible after contacting others in that draft a brief note mentioning that you have read the mail and reply by specific date. This will save you from the reminders Once you have set the deadline for yourself, meet it. For your own mails you may activate the option of asking for receipt In that case a reader cannot read the mail w/o acknowledging it But use this option sparingly.

Reply Within Twenty Four Hours

Rely promptly but delay it when you are angry Draft the reply but reread it after say 24hrs and then if you deem it fit forward it. You may want to reword it

Put In Order
Do not make your mailbox a junk yard. Otherwise retrieving the required mail would be very difficult Delete the not needed messages Or create subfolders within inbox and outbox and save mails that might be needed in future in them Subfolders can be named after the projects or the particular clients by which it is easy to recall.

PRESENTING THE MAIL

Why Presenting Is So Important

Professionals are busy. They get far more mail than they can cope with. There is lot of junk mail floating. Why should they invest time in a mail which is not relevant to them.

Invest In Subject Line

A busy professional will not delete your mail even before scanning it if : Your name is important to him The subject line is of importance to him Write a caption for a mail if there is an urgent need for a service engineer in your nitrogen plant

Smart Heading
It is caption of news and that is how reader is interested in it E.g. are India TV news captions Ghar ghar mein ghusi Dayan Generate interest but avoid shocks. No clownish headings. Headings be brief, clear, specific and well formed.

 Headlines should not be broad and vague Headline should be related to the matter. Interesting headline does not mean trappings If there are two or three unrelated matters then send separate mails for all these (reader may not read entire mail presuming that he has got the matter) you may indicate the priority also like low, normal, high

Small Is Beautiful
Keep your mail short Reading from the monitor is difficult than from the paper (give five reasons for it) Desktop resolutions are no match for paper Laptops are also not as flexible and portable as paper On monitors there is landscape presentation but we are used to portrait reading of paper for ages Complete text is not available in one go if the text is long You need to scroll up and down which is not comfortable.

Mind Your Tone

Be brief but not abrupt Hi! Geet- it means a happy tone subconsciously so does authoritative tone too humble a tone etc Be careful as with whom you are communicating

Mind Your Luggage

Do not attach unwelcome files to your mail Will the receiver have the software application needed to open the file Is the software needed uncommon Extremely large files attached and recipient is not able to receive such large files Recipient may not want to open the file fearing the viruses A 2mb graphic files of cartoon may take 10 min or more to down load if receiver has slow dial up connection If receiver is paying for internet services

Mind Your Language

Wrong spelling and wrong grammar or grammar structure do create confusions More mails are circulated for seeking clarifications Pressure of ever mounting mails could be a reason e do it on their own so no double check Depend solely on computers sell check, it checks wrong spellings and not wrong words with correct spelling e.g. wound bound It is not only about spelling mistakes but more about being misunderstood

 Spelling mistakes will leave an impression on some on who is not in our circle of acquaintances e.g. you job letters If you send a notice to large no of people you do not want an avalanche of clarification mails and then people do make fun 3 pm Monday 10september 2010 and guess if 10 September is Tuesday

Basic Etiquettes
Donot label every mail as urgent (crying wolf) Different-DIFFERENT-different Garden-GARDEN-garden Cleverly-CLEVERLY-cleverly All caps is difficult to read as all letters are of same size All caps gives out a different tone

Basic Etiquettes
RGDS ASAP NLT THX PLS IMHO BTW FYA FYEO FYI OBTW PTP WRT WEF :-) :-( :-< :-(O) O/O-) :-* 8-) ;-/ {XYZ} :-O

Avoid Private Shortcuts

May be used in chatting but avoid in formal conversations or with people who might not be aware of this If recipient does not understand he/she would delete the mail or may waste a lot of time in deciphering it Smiley are part of informal relationships and are not encouraged in official conversations Smiley and abbreviations save writers time but think about the recipient

General Rules Of Etiquettes

Make the subject line specific. Think of the many messages you're received with the generic subject line, "Hi" or "Just for you." When replying to or forwarding an e-mail, clean up the document. Rebecca Morgan, a communications consultant in California says, "I just received an e-mail from someone who had received it from 12 other people. I don't need to see that." Use the "BC" or blind copy command more often than the "CC" or carbon copy command. In the message you forward, delete the extraneous information such as all the "Memo to," subject, addresses, and date lines.

 When replying to a question, copy only the question into your e-mail, then provide your response. You needn't hit reply automatically, but don't send a bare message that only reads, "Yes." It's too blunt and confuses the reader. Address and sign your e-mails. To: and From: say who's corresponding, but beginning the message with the person's name "Mo," or "Dear Mo," helps customize it. Sign your name, "Sincerely, Curly" or provide a signature line for people to know who you are and where they can reach you

Netiquette Summary Tips

Never send personal email at work. Always use a subject line. Begin message with a greeting. Dont use emoticons. Use proper spelling, grammar, etc. NEVER TYPE IN ALL CAPS! Announce attachments.

Close with your name (signature block).

 A print out of e mail written by you :