It's no exaggeration to say that electronic communication has revolutionized the modern working world. Research indicates that more than 62 per cent of employees in today's workforce use the Internet or email to conduct at least part of their daily business. There is a minefield of etiquette that must be navigated carefully to preserve both civility and goodwill.
A schoolteacher sought to unload some stress one morning by emailing a friend, in some detail, about the indignities of menopause. Later that day, she received a puzzled response from the assistant superintendent, to whom she had unwittingly sent her message. She was mortified.
There are a number of guidelines that should be observed to ensure you come across as smart and businesslike. The following are some basic email pitfalls to avoid:
- Overusing "high importance" flags or designations like "Urgent" or "Read Me." Used sparingly, these may indeed compel your audience to pay more attention to what you write. But if you use it all the time, the effect is reversed.
- Composing emails in ALL CAPS. It's tempting to do if you want to emphasize a point, but veterans of electronic communication know that this is the cyberspace equivalent of yelling at someone - not a treatment most of us would welcome.
- CC'ing (sending a simultaneous copy to) a supervisor in the midst of a dispute with a co-worker. You may think this will help resolve the situation by engaging an informed and objective third party, but the more likely result will be to anger your co-worker and alienate both them and the supervisor you cc'ed.
- Leaving auto-response turned on all the time. To my mind, an uninterrupted auto-response is like those cloying (and maddening) - Calling the recipient within minutes of sending the email to ensure they got it.
Before you commit your email to cyberspace, take a moment to ask yourself how the recipient(s) are likely to perceive your message - not just the written message you've typed out, but also the indirect message you're sending through your actions. If in doubt, resist the impulse to hit Send and instead file the message as a draft to re-visit once you've had a chance to cool down. David MacFadden works at the Alberni Valley Employment Centre.