the art of netiquette

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The Art of Netiquette

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Agenda

•Introduction•Ten Commandments•Personal vs. Professional Profile•User Tips •Further Reading•Questions?

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•Abusing the CC or BCC feature•No meeting invite description•No subject line or misleading subject line•Having your message forwarded without permission•People who use emoticons •Large email attachments•Lengthy IM discussions•Spelling and/or grammar errors•Emailing or texting during meetings •Other?

What is your pet peeve?

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I Remember the HumanII Refrain from FlameIII Use Spell CheckerIV Do not Forward without PermissionV Refrain from CC and BCCVI Be “Present” VII Control EmoticonsVIII Control AttachmentsIX Keep it ShortX Include Necessary Info

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Would you say it to the person's face? Writer and Macintosh evangelist Guy Kawasaki tells a story about getting email from some fellow he's never met. Online, this fellow tells Guy that he's a bad writer with nothing interesting to say. Unbelievably rude? Yes, but unfortunately, it happens all the time in cyberspace. Maybe it's the awesome power of being able to send mail directly to a well-known writer like Guy. Maybe it's the fact that you can't see his face crumple in misery as he reads your cruel words. Whatever the reason, it's incredibly common. Guy proposes a useful test for anything you're about to post or mail: Ask yourself, "Would I say this to the person's face?" If the answer is no, rewrite and reread. Repeat the process till you feel sure that you'd feel as comfortable saying these words to the live person as you do sending them through cyberspace. Of course, it's possible that you'd feel great about saying something extremely rude to the person's face. In that case, Netiquette can't help you. Go get a copy of Miss Manners' Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior.

REMEMBER THE HUMAN

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Ode to the Spellchecker

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FWD:•Do not forward someone’s message without permission.•Do not alter someone’s message without permission.

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CC & BCC•Only include the necessary and appropriate individuals. •Use BCC when you must include a list of emails addresses.

•Do not use BCC maliciously. •How BCC can be used for the for the wrong reasons:

• Self Promotion – working hard or late• Manipulation – political or business reasons• Humiliation – criticize or discipline• Duplication – further document what was already

clearly documented.

From The Hamster Revolution

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Be Present at Meetings•Lead by example.

•Turn phone ringers off.

•Do not have your phone directly in front of you on the table and glancing at it often.

•If you do need to answer the call, wait until you are out of the room to begin speaking.

•Only bring your laptop if it is need for the meeting.

•Show respect for the speaker/facilitator

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Texting and IM’ing

•Meeting Etiquette:• Ringers – vibrate mode. • Place your phone out of site if possible.

•If it is a lengthy message or something that will need details, use the phone, meet in person, or send an email instead.

•Not everyone is familiar with text lingo.

•It is meant to have a very informal tone and for quick communication.

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Control Attachments

•Check with the recipient first if he/she can accept large files.

•Use an ftp tool if available.

•Copy and paste the information in the body of the email if applicable.

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Keep it Short•Get to the point quickly.

•Answer all questions asked in a Reply message•Utilize lists and spacing.

•Itemize if appropriate

•Spilt into two emails if topics are not related.

•Guy Kawasaki doesn’t recommend answering line by line.

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Include Information•Do not be misleading. The subject line should strive to reflect the main topic/point of the message.

• Include an agenda or description in meeting invites.

• Answer all questions…even if it is an I don’t know and I’ll get back to you… and then be sure to get back to the person!

• Give directions where to find the information, but careful about hefty attachments and too many urls.

• Quote the author• Remove Headers

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Personal vs. Professional Online Profile

•User different User name handles for your business vs personal accounts.

•Keep them separate as much as possible. For example, use Facebook for informal and personal and LinkedIn for business.

•Twitter – can get referenced in other professional mediums

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Email Decision Matrix

Merlin Mann’s “Inbox Zero”

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Effective Emails• Write a great subject line • Brevity is best• Answer all questions• Review before sending• Avoid ALL CAPS• Quote Back• Control URL’s• Question attachments• “Chill Out” • Include a signature

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Beale, Abby Marks. (2008). Slaying the email dragon. The Corporate Educator, LLC.

Ferriss, Timothy. (2007). The 4-hour workweek: Escape 9-5, live anywhere, and join the new rich. New York:Crown Publishing Group.

Goodman, Katie. (2008, March). “The 30-day email detox.” Oprah, 203Kawasaki, Guy. (2006). “The effective emailer.” Retrieved on December 15,

2007, from http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2006/02/the_effective_e.htmlKolin, Philip. (2007). Successful Writing at Work. Boston: Houghton Mifflin

Company. Mann, Merlin. (2005). “Writing sensible email messages.” 43 Folders. Retrieved

on June 2, 2008, from http://www.43folders.com/2005/09/19/writing-sensible-email-messages

Shea, Virginia. (1997). Netiquette. San Francisco: Albion Books. Retrieved January 15, 2008, from http://www.albion.com/netiquette/

Further Reading