Etiquette at GDEX

Transcription

1 Etiquette at GDEX

2 Why practice Etiquette? The use of in corporate culture is pervasive. We rarely get letters any more. Even phone calls are uncommon. But we get scores of messages every day. Yet, we continually surprised at how people often misuse this medium. Attached are 16 suggestions for better communication and etiquette (much is extracted from the internet) Etiguette at GDEX Page 2

3 1. Reply in a timely manner. We don t think demands an instantaneous response. Responding once or twice a day is sufficient, unless you are in sales, customer service, tech support, or some other field where a faster response is expected. Regardless, you must reply in a timely manner, otherwise you will incrementally damage your reputation and decrease your effectiveness. Etiguette at GDEX Page 3

4 2. Be mindful of your tone. Unlike face-to-face meetings or even phone calls, those who read your messages don t have the benefit of your pitch, tone, inflection, or other non-verbal cues. As a result, you need to be careful about your tone. Sarcasm is especially dangerous. If something gets lost in translation, you risk offending the other party. The more matter-of-fact you can be, the better. Etiguette at GDEX Page 4

5 3. Don t use to criticize others. is a terrific way to commend someone or praise them. It is not an appropriate medium for criticism. Chances are, you will simply offend the other person, and they will miss your point. These kinds of conversations are usually better handled face-to-face or, if necessary, over the phone. Especially, don t use to criticize a third party. messages live forever. They are easily forwarded. You can create a firestorm of conflict if you are not careful. Don t reply in anger. It almost never serves your purpose or long-term interests. Etiguette at GDEX Page 5

6 4. Don t reply in anger. In the heat of the moment, we have written some brilliant replies. We have said things in writing that we would never have the guts to say face-to-face. This is precisely why you should never ever fire off an in anger. They almost never serve their purpose or your long-term interests. They burn up relationships faster than just about anything you can do. If it makes you feel better, go ahead and write the message, then delete it. Usually a day or two after you didn t send an angry , you ll understand the wisdom of restraint. Etiguette at GDEX Page 6

7 5. Don t overuse reply to all. Some time ago we received an from someone who needed to check on some shipments. The person sent the to all employees which is about people (instead of the intended recipient only). Some of the recipients, hit the reply all key (out of habit, I am sure) and sent a mail to everyone on the list. This, of course, just adds more clutter to everyone s already unwieldy inbox. Your default response should be to reply only to the sender. Before you reply to everyone, make sure that everyone needs to know. Etiguette at GDEX Page 7

8 6. Don t send Out Of Office notification to all If you are on leave, please do not send a mail to everyone. The solution is to use the automatic Out Of Office notification to revert automatically to sender with your back up person s details. A sample set up is as below. Contact FTS if you need help to set this up. Etiguette a

9 7. Don t forward chain letters. These can be forgiven when they are from your mother, but they only add clutter in the workplace. Nine times out of ten, the information is bogus. It is often urban legend. If you feel you absolutely must pass it on, please make sure that it is valid information. If in doubt, check it out at Snopes.com, a Web site devoted to tracking urban legends and rumours. Etiguette at GDEX Page 9

10 8. Don t copy up as a means of coercion It s one thing to copy someone s boss as a courtesy. I do this whenever I am making an assignment to someone who is not a direct report. (I don t want their boss to think I am going around them, but I also don t want to bog my communication down in bureaucratic red tape.) But it is not a good idea to do this as a subtle or not-so subtle form of coercion. You may be tempted to do this when you don t get a response to an earlier request. But I would suggest that you will be better served to pick up the phone and call the person. If they are not responding to your s, try a different communications strategy. Etiguette at GDEX Page 10

11 10. Don t write in ALL CAPS. This is the digital equivalent of shouting. Besides ALL CAPS are harder to read (as anyone in advertising will tell you.) Etiguette at GDEX Page 11

12 11. Don t send or forward s containing libellous, defamatory, offensive, racist or obscene remarks. If you do so, you can put yourself or your company at risk. You could be sued for simply passing something along, even if you aren t the original author. Etiguette at GDEX Page 12

13 12. Remember that company isn t private. You have no legal protection. Anyone with sufficient authority or access can monitor your conversations on company-owned servers. If you need to communicate privately, then get a free internet account like Gmail or Yahoo . Use it for anything personal or private. We also recommend that we do not send celebration greetings like Hari Raya, Deepavali or Christmas greetings to all staffs except official greetings coming from top management. You can send personal greetings to your colleagues personal address with your personal account. Etiguette at GDEX Page 13

14 13. Use a signature with your contact information This is a courtesy for those receiving your messages and it is a standard for GDEX. It also cuts down on messages, since people don t have to send a second or third asking for your phone number or mailing address. Ensure that you include the signature format as example below with disclaimers (notice in small print). Contact FTS if you need help on setting your signature. Best regards, Mr Loo Chin Meng Information Technology (IT) GD Express Sdn Bhd No 17, Jalan Tandang, Petaling Jaya, Selangor Tel (Gen): (Ext. 4100) Tel (Direct): Fax (Direct): cmloo@gdexpress.com Website: NOTICE : If you are not the authorized recipient of this , please contact GD Express Sdn Bhd (Company No : X) immediately by return or by telephone on In this case, you should not read, print, re-transmit, store or act in reliance on this or any attachments, and should destroy all copies of them. This and any attachments are confidential and the copyright of the material belongs or licensed to GD Express Sdn Bhd or third parties. You should only re-transmit, distribute or commercialize the material if you are authorized to do so.attachments to this may contain software viruses that could damage your computer system. Whilst we take reasonable precautions to minimize this risk, we do not accept liability for any damage which may result from software viruses. You should carry out your own virus checks before opening these attachments. Please note that errors can occur in electronically transmitted materials. We do not accept liability for any such errors. If verification is required please ask for a hard copy. This notice should not be removed

15 14. Provide if-then options Tim Ferris, author of The 4-Hour Work Week said we can provide options to avoid the back and forth of single option messages. For example, If you have completed the assignment, then please confirm that via . If not, then please estimate when you expect to finish. Or, I can meet at 10:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. or 2:00 p.m. Will one of those times work? If not, would you please reply with three times that would work for you? Etiguette at GDEX Page 15

16 15. Use your spell-checker I take my correspondence seriously. It reflects on me. As a manager or executive, the bar is even higher. If I misspell words, use bad grammar or punctuation, then it reflects negatively on me and my company. Lapses in grammar or punctuation can be forgiven. But misspelled words are just too easy to correct. That s why we have spell-checkers. Make sure yours is turned on. Avoid using short forms or abbreviation as you do in SMS text messaging. Etiguette at GDEX Page 16

17 16. Re-read your before you send it. I try to do this with every single message. My fingers have difficulty keeping up with my brain. It is not unusual for me to drop a word or two as I am racing to transcribe a thought. Therefore, it s a good idea to re-read your messages and make sure that you are communicating clearly and observing good etiquette. Etiguette at GDEX Page 17

18 Thank you Hope some of the tips above help you in managing and working with s. Feel free to contact me if you have further queries. Thank you. Etiguette at GDEX Page 18