There are a number of widely accepted, although unwritten conventions for e-mail. Adhering to these will make the medium work more effectively for you:
- Reply promptly. Typically this means within 24hrs, although it should also be recognised that there are dangers in providing an instant knee-jerk response, which may be overtaken by events.
- Use a meaningful heading, and change the heading if the on-going correspondence shifts to another topic. Many people use their e-mail as a filing system.
- Be brief yet concise. It is often better to send more than one e-mail to cover separate subjects. Where possible, provide links to on-line material rather than including lengthy supplementary text and images.
- Keep distribution lists to a minimum avoid the temptation to copy e-mails to anyone with even a passing interest in the content.
Other guidelines relate to tone of voice and symbols to convey mood or emotion I’ll cover these in the next article. General sources on Netiquette, include: http://www.fingertek.com/smilies.htm
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