Learning Outcomes - Email Etiquette Training Program (Part A)
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Learning Outcomes - Email Etiquette Training Program (Part A) By the end of this course, participants will: Develop a heightened awareness of the potential perils of digital communication Master effective email structures to achieve clarity and successful communication Learn to write for the reader, starting with effective subject lines Make the most of 'email estate' Carefully consider the email recipients Learn to work within principles or 'rules of thumb' to ensure professional, clear & effective emails Perfect grammar because it matters Format messages for readability Learn to write professionally and brand Broadcast emails Learn to avoid senders regret by proof reading Understand 'netiquette' Master the inbox using some core principles and email functions Program Outline – Email Etiquette Training Program Topic 1 – Introduction As with any form of communication, there are certain rules of behavior which should be considered when using email. Email is written communication, but it does not have the formality of earlier written forms. It has a much more immediate, less formal feel than paper, pen, and stamp mail. Email is also essentially one - way communication. There is no immediate feedback and interaction. Also, written communication by definition allows far fewer context clues to its meaning as face - to -face and telephone conversation. Any written communication must be carefully considered so that it is not misunderstood, but email lends itself to casual interaction. The potential for real misunderstanding is clear. When you compose an email message, pause and read over it again before you send it. Once it is sent, you can't get it back. Remember that your grammar, spelling, and vocabulary send a message as clear as the words. Be very careful about using humour in email. Email etiquette is the way in which you communicate via email. There are two types of communications, one a personal email, to friends, family, etc..., and the other is business. Of course the way you address your best friend is the same as you would your superior. Do not type in all caps, that is considered shouting. When sending a business email, make sure you use correct grammar and punctuation. Keep in mind whom you are addressing when sending an email. Email etiquette is the skills and techniques necessary for managing emails and writing professionally with effective email structures. Evaluate your Email usage Workshop Objectives Topic 2 - Introduction to Email Etiquette Email is never secure We send some of our most personal and private information through email. Shouldn't we have 100% trust in our email system? Unencrypted, plain-text emails can easily be intercepted, read, and edited. In fact, sending an unencrypted email is a bit like sending a postcard written in pencil: whoever intercepts it can read it with ease. Until now, the process of encrypting email messages was lengthy, difficult, and cumbersome, even to the most tech-savvy PC user. Of course, security systems that, however necessary, are a chore to use will never be adopted on a large scale. You may already know that email is insecure; however, it may surprise you to learn just how insecure it really is. For example, did you know that messages which you thought were deleted years ago may be sitting on servers half-way around the world? Or that your messages can be read and modified in transit, even before they reach their destination? Or even that the username and password that you use to login to your email servers can be stolen and used by hackers? Productivity is lost when cyber-slackers log on Businesses should crack down on workers who visit recreational Web sites—such as Fantasyfootball.com and Facebook.com—on company time. Pro or Con? It sounds simple enough to say that employers need not tolerate recreational Web browsing by their workers. Work is for work; do your personal cybersurfing on your own time and your own computer, right? This seems eminently reasonable—until you actually stop and think about it. A rule of zero or near-zero tolerance for cyberleisure on the job might make sense in a workplace populated exclusively by robots, but it‘s impractical and unreasonable in the real world of real humans at real jobs. The Internet isn‘t just a business tool; it‘s an information and communications necessity. Cracking down on recreational surfing means making difficult, potentially intrusive, and mostly unnecessary decisions about the kinds of ―information‖ employees are allowed to consume at the workplace. Do employers really want to go there? So it‘s acceptable to spend a break reading an online article at BusinessWeek.com but not playing online computer games? It‘s reasonable to e-mail a colleague to arrange lunch but not to post a comment on his Facebook page? Will I be fired for making a passing reference to last night‘s game in an interoffice e-mail? This isn‘t about recreational Web surfing. The issue here is freedom of expression—an employee‘s ability to think and read and communicate on matters that have nothing to do with work—without interference from the employer. What‘s really relevant to the manager is actual job performance. Employers should certainly feel free to discipline workers who abuse the privilege of Internet access to the detriment of their productivity, just as they would show little tolerance for any other behavior that significantly impairs performance. Smart employers know that talented, motivated people want to work where they are evaluated on their performance, not within a zero-tolerance tyranny where they are judged by the private expressive choices they make in filling their idle moments. Poorly written emails today suffer the same consequences as poorly written memos and letters of earlier times. So, when writing emails to your colleagues and clients, remember to create a professional image by following these simple guidelines. As you do, you will help others meet important deadlines and keep projects on target. Keep It Short and Sweet Avoid rambling as you type one idea after another. Instead, be clear in your thinking, use one of the three models of Writing to Get Things Done and finesse with tone. Make the Organization Visually Apparent Avoid presenting one paragraph after another with no clear visual connection tying them together. Instead, make the organization of your emails apparent to your readers. Here are two simple, yet powerful, ways to do this: • Organize a list of key points under a forecasting sentence in a bullet-point paragraph format. (Like we‘re doing here.) • Use headings to forecast the content of your paragraphs. (Like we‘re doing with the paragraphs in this article.) Write in the Style of Educated Professionals Avoid thinking that good writing rules don‘t apply to emails. Instead, follow Standard American English rules for grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, word usage, spelling and capitalization. Remember: • Few readers notice good grammar. When was the last time you thought, ―Gosh, I like the way she used that semicolon! Super choice of punctuation!‖ • All readers notice bad grammar. It knocks readers off message and makes the writer look uneducated and careless. Must we also say? AVOID ALL CAPS. Readers will think you‘re yelling—which you are. Or is it just laziness? Avoid the use of smileys. Reserve these for fun between friends and family. In business, they can easily be interpreted the wrong way. Avoid text-messaging language: BTW, IMHO, J/K, LOL, BAK, MTFBWY, etc. These are great shortcuts in texting and should be reserved for texting. In business, they, as with smileys, can be misinterpreted and detrimental to your message. Avoid using colored type, freaky styles and sizes, colored backgrounds and unnecessary logos and graphics. These distract readers from your message. Do a Final Revision Avoid firing off your email as soon as you‘re finished typing. Take a minute to add some finishing touches: • Engage your reader with a forecasting subject line that describes the topic of your email. • Include a friendly salutation or greeting, such as ―Good morning Brenda,‖ if appropriate. • Check that you have a professional, positive tone that encourages cooperation. • Proofread each sentence carefully, even after doing spelling and grammar checks. As we all know from experience, a spelling check will miss the error of using to when we mean too. Forward with Care Avoid automatically relaying email from others. Respect the privacy of the messages you receive. • Consider confidentiality before you forward, and use the ―Reply to All" function with care. • Ask permission before forwarding someone‘s private email on to others. • Consider attaching only the last email in a chain of emails and deleting prior emails. Make it Media-Ready Avoid thinking that just because you respect the privacy of others, they will return the favor. Avoid putting things in your email that you wouldn‘t want anyone to see. Your email could end up on the desk of your boss, on the front page of the New York Times or in a court of law. And in such cases, you want to look your best. Keep it Professional Finally, avoid taking people to task via email. Conflict is often better addressed face-toface or over the phone. Be aware that every email you send becomes a written record of your performance. It also reflects on those you represent—your work group, your department and your company. Email misuse and abuse may get you fired More than a quarter of employers have fired workers for misusing e-mail and one third have fired workers for misusing the Internet on the job. The vast majority of bosses who fired workers for Internet misuse, 84 percent, said the employee was accessing porn or other inappropriate content.