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Keeping Your Foot Out of Your Virtual Mouth

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How is it spelled? email Email eMail EMail e-mail E-mail e-Mail E-Mail

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How is it spelled? Gregg, Microsoft, and AP: e-mail Wired: email Email Experience Council: email is standard

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What makes email different?

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Difference: No nonverbal cues No nonverbal cues, which account for ___________ percent of message

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Nonverbal cues No nonverbal cues, which account for 65 - 93 percent of a message Only words and :-)

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Difference: Tone No nonverbal cues Tone becomes crucial In Germany and Britain, 23 percent and 14 percent respectively [of respondents to a Daily Mail survey] admitted confrontations with colleagues because of e-mail misunderstandings.

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Criticisms are harsher Messages meant to express mild displeasure can come across as tirades. Louise Dobson, Avoiding Email Catastrophes (2006)

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Tone: Example One To: Female employees From: H. Honcho Re: Dress code Date: 1 July 2006 Clients will be visiting next week. Halter tops and jeans will not make the right impression. Its time you started dressing for the office instead of the beach. Leave your flip-flops at home!

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Tone: Example Two To: All staff From: H. Honcho Re: Reminder about what to wear to work Date: 1 July 2006 During the summer, our dress code is business casual. We think business casual means clothes that feel comfortable and look professional. MenWomen khaki pants casual pants and skirts leather shoes leather or fabric shoes

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Tips: Tone Avoid terseness, which can be misinterpreted Use face-to-face communication if issue is sensitive Read your emails aloud, looking for ambiguity

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Difference: Humor Humor is riskier

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Humor: Riskier and Misunderstood Nearly a quarter of employees have suffered problems with colleagues or clients because their use of humour in an email has not been understood or appreciated, according to a survey. Robert Jacques, Email Jokes Backfire for UK Workers (2004)

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Tips: Humor If in doubt, dont send it. Chevron was forced to pay $2.2 million to settle a harassment case based in part on emails with such subjects as Why beer is better than women. Reread for ambiguities. Signal the joke. One emoticon or per email is plenty.

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Difference: Levels of formality Most people view email as more formal than a phone call less formal than a letter

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Spelling still counts Sloppiness is one of seven deadly e-mail sins Bad grammar, misspelling and disconnected arguments gave 81 percent of the survey sample "negative feelings" towards the senders. 41 percent of senior managers said badly worded e- mails implied laziness and even disrespect. CNN.com

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Level of Formality When in doubt, err on the side of formality. Usually the problem is that we treat [e-mail] too much like a phone call and not enough like a letter. OConner and Kellerman (2002)

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Difference: Level of Formality Questions to which answers are evolving: Do I need a subject line? Should I email a thank-you note after a job interview? Should I communicate bad news via email?

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Difference: Electronic Hit Send and its gone Hit Reply All and your career may be gone Deleted emails live on Messages can be forwarded without your knowledge or consent

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Tip: What not to do One of the officers convicted of beating Rodney King sent this email: Oops. I havent beaten anyone so bad in a long time. A transcript of the message was used at his trial.

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Tip: Electronic Colonel David Russells rule: Never say anything in an electronic message that you wouldn't want appearing, and attributed to you, in tomorrow mornings front-page headline in the New York Times.

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Tip: Electronic Instant Many expect a phone call to alert them to an email labeled Urgent. Allow a reasonable time (two days week) for a response. Respond before senders have to follow up or business is delayed.

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When would you use email? To send confidential salary information To address a personal hygiene issue To get an immediate reply To settle a conflict between two team members To request a manual for the new phone system To recap a conversation about a pending order To set up a meeting next month To keep people updated on a projects status

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When would you use email? To send confidential salary information To address a personal hygiene issue To get an immediate reply To settle a conflict between two team members To request a manual for the new phone system To recap a conversation about a pending order To set up a meeting next month To keep people updated on a projects status

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Difference: Wheres audience? People who wouldn't dream of burping at the end of dinner post offensive messages to international forums. Middle managers inadvertently send romantic email messages to the company-wide email alias. People at computer terminals forget that there are real live people on the other end of the wire. Virginia Shea, Netiquette (1994)

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Nettiquette Typing in all capitals in electronic communications means (A) Nothing special--typing in all caps is normal. (B) You are shouting. (C) Its OK to forward this message to others. (D) This message is very important.

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Three manners mavens: Shea Typing in all capitals in electronic communications means (B) You are shouting. Typing in all capitals in online communications is the equivalent of SHOUTING! Only type in all caps if you really mean to shout.

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Tip: Use BCC wisely To keep addresses private, put your own address in the To: line and paste your mailing list in the cc: line BCCs within an organization can create distrust

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Tip: Leave address blank If youre furious and must answer an email right away, leave the address line blank. If you hit Send before youve had a chance to cool down, the email wont go through.

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Anatomy of email: From Would you open mail from Vampyra@Goths_R_Us.netVampyra@Goths_R_Us.net Boogers2007@hotmail.comBoogers2007@hotmail.com Dunno dunno@yahoo.com

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Anatomy of email: From E-mail recipients put more weight on who the e-mail is from than any other item when choosing which e-mails to open which to delete which to complain about Chris Baggot, ExactTarget

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Anatomy of an email: Subject Your subject can answer any of readers four key questions: 1. Whats this about? 2. Why should I read this? 3. Whats in this for me? 4. What am I being asked to do?

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More Tips: Subject Double-check the address line before sending. Insulted by a general email from the boss, an employee sent an angry comment to a colleague (she thought): Does she think were stupid? The reply (from her boss): Yes, I do.

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Anatomy of an email: Body Before you type anything into a new message, have explicit answers for two questions: 1. Why am I writing this? 2. What exactly do I want the result of this message to be? 43 Folders (2005)

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Anatomy of email: Body Write so emails are easy to read Make paragraphs 7-8 lines Insert a blank line between paragraphs Use headlines, bullets, and numbers AVOID ALL CAPS; THATS SHOUTING If a message is longer than 3 screens, send an attachment

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Anatomy of email: Body Subject: Noise level in the break rooms How can we satisfy everyone? Many of you have told me about the growing tension you feel around using the break rooms. Some of you use them to work and socialize; others need a quiet place to work. Your ideas are welcome What do you think we can do about this? Should we designate one room as a lounge and another as a quiet area? D. Dumaine, Write to the Top

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Question: Do I need a greeting? Consensus: Yes. Otherwise, you can seem brusque or unfriendly.

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Question: Which greeting? Opinion: Divided Some say Hi, Steve, is too informal. Some say To whom it may concern is stilted. For external communication, use same greeting as in letter For internal communication, some use Bob:

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Question: Which closing? Consensus Match greeting in tone Formal: Sincerely, Best regards, Cordially Informal: Thanks; All the best, Talk to you later Use a sig line that gives your name, title, and contact information Omit a P.S. (if the email is longer than a screen, a postscript could be missed)

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Suggested resources Available at http://word-crafter.net/email.htmlhttp://word-crafter.net/email.html Articles Best practices for email marketing Grammar help Test your netiquette

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Assignment Cell Phone Etiquette In a group of 4, create a list of at least 10 cell phone etiquette rules Decide which environment youd like to develop these rules for (ex. School, public place, waiting rooms, car, etc.) Your rules can involve anything that a person does on a cell phone such as texting, talking, etc. Be creative tell us what you really think What annoys you about cell phones? Email my your list using the nettique rules in this PowerPoint Pick a speaker from your group to present your rules