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Netiquette – is yours up to scratch Email has become more widely used than both telephone and the written letter, and, as with any method of communication, it has a particular set of universally accepted customs. According to Jo Stuteley, Director of La Crème, the office support recruiter: “When we pick up the phone, write a letter or even speak face-to-face with someone, we expect them to observe certain rules of behaviour, and the same goes for email. It is therefore important to ensure you come across as you would want to when meeting in person - the added risk with email is that once you hit the send button, you won’t have another chance! Here are our top tips. * Although messages should be short and concise, avoid using abbreviations such as ‘plz’ instead of ‘please’ and ‘2’ instead of ‘to’ in a business correspondence. * Punctuation is not as important as in written correspondence, but it is still important to convey the tone of your email. * Don’t write the whole email in capital letters – this is the equivalent of shouting at someone down the phone! * If in doubt about how to address somebody, always use the more formal salutation of ‘Mr,’ ‘Mrs,’ ‘Dr’ etc. If you are replying to an email where the sender has used their first name, you can assume it is safe to use that person’s first name as well. * The subject title is your chance to catch the eye of someone who probably receives hundreds of emails each day. Make sure it is relevant to the email – it will help the recipient locate it at a later date. * You have three choices for addressing an email – the ‘To,’ ‘Cc’ and ‘Bcc’ fields. Use the ‘To’ field for people you are addressing directly; use the ‘Cc’ field for people you are indirectly talking to, and use the ‘Bcc’ field to email a group of people without the other recipients knowing who has been contacted. Be careful with this last one – its use can sometimes be unethical. * Be wary of the ‘Reply to all’ button – it can generate dozens of unnecessary emails. * Only use attachments if they are completely necessary – they block up people’s inboxes and sometimes put your recipients off opening your email for fear of viruses. Most companies accept that their employees have to send and receive some personal emails, but you must be careful about undertaking personal activities in company time, as it can be grounds for dismissal. The main thing is to be sensible, although we all send personal emails from time to time, the crux of the matter is how much and how often. www.lacremeuk.co.uk
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