Observe proper ‘netiquette’ to avoid the pitfalls of electronic communication |
By John Carroll
Leadership Development Manager
Have you ever received an e-mail message littered with spelling and grammatical errors, or a message in ALL CAPS, or a message in which the sender apparently felt that nothing less than 5,000 words would be sufficient to convey their earth-shattering ideas? If you answered affirmatively, then you are familiar with the hazards of e-mail.
Poorly constructed e-mail messages can frustrate communication rather than accomplish it. Unlike traditional written correspondence, senders of e-mail often believe that protocol of any sort is simply not necessary. The ease and informality of dashing off an e-mail can involve a loss of inhibition and careless communication.
Clearly, there is a need for e-mail etiquette – netiquette. If we employ the use of etiquette in handwritten or typed letters and phone conversation, we can certainly apply some of the same practices to improve our communication in the electronic age.
Below are some tips, drawn from a variety of sources:
Subject lines. The subject line ought to be brief and accurately describe the body of the e-mail. Subject lines such as “Question for you” or just “Question” are brief, but don’t explain what the message is about. A better subject line would be “Question about the report presented on 4/15” or better yet “Question about ELA scores – 4/15 report.” It is bad netiquette for a subject line to carry an entire message, such as “Hello, I was wondering if you could send me the report presented on 4/15 again. I have a question about the ELA section, but I seem to have deleted the file accidentally.”
The body, also referred to as the “text,” is the main part of your message. Again, brevity is the key here. People receive so many e-mails that no one wants to spend 15 minutes reading a single message. Even Nigerian royalty seeking the gullible to wire them money seem to have realized this.
Also, a long message in a reply may give a “retaliatory” appearance. The sheer length of the reply may suggest that the sender has been harboring strong thoughts or feelings that are now beginning to boil over. It may also give the indication that there is perceived hostility on behalf of the sender. So try to keep it brief.
On the other hand, be sure when composing e-mail to be brief without appearing overly terse. There is a fine line between assertive communication and aggressive communication, so be mindful of the length of your message.
If a lengthy discussion or response is needed, consider attaching a document or using an antiquated delivery system such as the telephone or “snail mail.”
Spell check, please. Nothing says “I don’t care” more than bad spelling, grammar and punctuation. Always spell check your messages and look for erroneous homonyms, which spell check won’t catch. Take a few moments to be sure that your e-mail is free of punctuation errors and questionable grammar. You may want to save the draft of your e-mail and then read it later, with fresh eyes, before sending it.
Cool your jets. Never send e-mails in an emotional state. If you are upset when you begin to type, consider waiting until the next day before hitting “send” to see if your response is still in line with your feelings. Also, avoid the use of ALL CAPS, as this is interpreted as shouting. Always remember that one drawback to using e-mail is the lack of verbal and non-verbal cues, voice tone and inflection, which can make an innocuous message appear critical, hostile or aggressive.
Get to the point. Begin your message with the end in mind; in other words, make your point immediately. Close the message by restating the point to ensure there is no confusion.
No weird fonts. Formatting the body of your message similar to the way in which you would a handwritten letter is preferred for all types of e-mail. We have all come to expect correspondence to meet certain standards, and we take less seriously any communication that does not meet those standards. A salutation line is almost always obligatory when sending or receiving e-mail. Use of indentation is not necessary for paragraphs; however, a space between the salutation and each paragraph should be used.
A signature or sign-off should always be used in business e-mails. Include your name, title and contact information. It’s not good form to use your signature to promote a private business that is unrelated to the subject of your e-mail. And please, no religious messages or controversial quotes in your signature.
A final note about formatting: Avoid using electronic stationary, graphics or rich-text format as many e-mail clients do not support such features. For inter-office communication, or within a large organization, these features may be fine to use; however for e-mails outside your organization, plain text is the right format to use.
How to respond to an e-mail. When responding to questions or comments in a previous e-mail, you should always respond with the original message attached. Additionally, be sure to copy the question you are responding to into your message, highlight it, and issue your response adjacent to or below it. If the original message was addressed to several recipients, but the conversation now involves only two parties, the original recipients should no longer be copied on the responses.
A word about abbrev. BTW, care should be taken to avoid mass-abbreviations, LOL! Using abbreviations assumes the recipient knows the meaning of every abbreviation or acronym used, and this may not he the case. (BTW stands for “by the way” and LOL means “laughing out loud.”) Cutesy abbreviations don’t belong in business correspondence, and just about any abbreviation taken to excess serves to disrupt the flow of sentences and makes your message look chaotic.
It is acceptable, however to use frequent abbreviations when having an industry-specific conversation with someone who is sure to understand the abbreviation or acronym. So for school district- related correspondence, acronyms such as NYSED or NYSSBA are acceptable.
Emoticons. On a similar note, “emoticons” or smileys should also be used sparingly. A smiley such as :-) is an example of an emoticon. In most professional e-conversations, emoticons should not be used at all. At your discretion, emoticons can be used in professional e-mails if there is a comfort level between the two parties, and as long as they are not used within an initial contact.
An important point to remember is to not assume that using an emoticon will make the recipient feel the same way you do. Nor will it undo a previous statement you made that was not taken well.
To work out interpersonal issues, face-to-face or telephone conversations are vastly superior to e-mail exchanges.
FOIL. E-mail should never be used to conduct public business, i.e., anything that would normally occur at a board meeting such as taking a vote, or having a discussion that effectively enables the board to arrive at a decision without engaging in discussion in public. Use of e-mail for this purpose is inconsistent with the Open Meetings Law. E-mails among school personnel and/or board members can be obtained under the state Freedom of Information Law. Always keep this in mind when you are communicating with fellow board members or the superintendent.
Got any thoughts on this column? Send me – what else? – an e-mail at john.carroll@nyssba.org.