Charities Newsletter
Issue 7

Ever wondered whether electronic communications have their own etiquette. I remember when I first came across :) and :-) I was baffled. And obviously some people are better at these squiggly bits than others. However, I would like to share with you some basics of email etiquette for the simple reason that there is no escaping it. It's here to stay, so we might as well know how to use it properly.

This piece was triggered by a continued annoyance at people who display other people's email addresses when they send me bulk email >:-( 
Work this one out while you read the rest of this article - if you can't don't worry about it :)

What is Email etiquette? It's:

1. Being courteous - this is more likely to get you the response you want.
2. Addressing someone by name at the beginning of the message,  especially if you are also copying another group of people.
3. Making your subject headers clear and relevant to your reader(s) e.g. Don't use subject headers like  "stuff"
4. Not sending a subject header of, say  "accounts"  to the accountant
5. Trying to keep to one subject per email, especially if the content is complex. It is better for your reader(s) to have several emails on individual issues, which also makes them easy to file and retrieve later. One email covering a large variety of issues is likely to be misunderstood or ignored.
6. Using asterisks at each end of a word (e.g. *now*) is common practice for highlighting text.
7. Using capitals (e.g. NOW) to emphasise words, but should be used sparingly as it commonly perceived as 'shouting'.
8. not opening emails unless you have a reasonably good expectation of what it contains, e.g. Do open report.doc from an Internet colleague you know. Don't open explore.zip sent from an address you've never heard of, however tempting. Alert IT Support if you are sent anything like this unsolicited. This is one of the most effective means of protecting your organisation against email virus attacks.
9. Keeping email signatures short. (Your name, title, phone/fax and web site address may constitute a typical signature).
10. Understanding how 'forwarding' of email works.
    [ If you forward mail, it appears (to the reader) to come from the originator and usually has FW: as a prefix].
    [ If you forward mail *and edit it* in the process, it appears to come from you - with the originator's details usually embedded in the message. This is to show that the original mail is 'no longer intact'].

On Distribution Lists:

1. Only send Email to those it is meant for; don't broadcast (i.e. send to large groups of people using email aliases) unless absolutely necessary since this runs the risk of being disruptive. Unnecessary (or junk) email  reduces computer performance and wastes disc space.
2. Use the standard aliases for work related communication only. If you wish to broadcast other non work related information or requests (e.g. information or opinions on political matters outside the scope of your organisation, social matters, personal requests for information etc.) it is better to use a Webmail account or a personal email account at home; don't use the standard (work) aliases.
3. Keep your organisation's internal email aliases internal. If you are sending an email both to a your organisation alias and outside of your organisation use the alias as a blind carbon copy (i.e. the bcc address option) so that the external recipient does not see the internal alias.
4. Don't broadcast emails with attachments to large groups of people; either note in the email where it is located for recipients to look, or include the text in the body of the email. Failure to do this puts an unnecessary load on the network.

General points on email use:

1. When publishing or transmitting information externally be aware that you are representing your organisation and could be seen as speaking on organisation’s behalf. Make it clear when opinions are personal. If in doubt, consult your line manager.
2. Check your in-tray at regular intervals during the working day.
3. Keep your in-tray fairly empty so that it just contains items requiring your action. Try to decide what to do with each email as you read it (e.g. delete it, reply to it, save the whole email in a folder, or extract just the useful information and save it somewhere logical – please note emails could possibly be treated as official organisational documents and could possibly be used in a court of law).
4. Keep electronic files of electronic correspondence, only keeping what you need to. Don't print it off and keep paper files unless absolutely necessary.
5. Treat others with respect and in a way you would expect to be treated yourself (e.g. don't send unconstructive feedback, argue or invite colleagues to publicise their displeasure at the actions / decisions of a colleague).
6. Don't forward emails warning about viruses (they are invariably hoaxes and IT Support will probably already be aware of genuine viruses - if in doubt, contact them for advice).

For other helpful documents and examples of IT Policy Templates visit: http://www.coopsys.net/news/documents.php

Find out more on :) ;) :-)