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Email Etiquette II
I
had great feedback from my last article, and was asked to write further
on the subject; hence my title.
This month I'll share on Email Etiquette in discussion groups. For those
who are not yet aware, on the Internet there are hundreds of thousands
of discussion groups available in any topic imaginable. The most popular
group systems used are YahooGroups.com, Topica.com and SmartGroups.com
but there are others. Some web owners set up their own private groups
too, via their website.
The idea behind these groups is that someone starts up or moderates a
topic and people become members (at no cost) if they are interested. Some
of these groups have closed memberships, i.e. you have to be involved
in whatever that group is about and outsiders cannot join, whilst other
groups are open to all and sundry.
With the whole world being open to membership for these groups cultural
differences need to be considered and it is possible to easily upset a
member and suddenly you have a heated argument with many others getting
involved and the original meaning and context completely shoved aside!
I've seen this happen in groups and it's a shame, as it often just takes
a little thought and consideration to realise that perhaps the writer
didn't fully understand the language, or hadn't actually meant what may
have sounded rather rude. There have been times when someone has written
something I thought was offensive or wrong and rather than emailing back
to the list via the group email address, I have chosen to email the writer
direct instead. A much better way to handle a misunderstanding.
A good rule when handling/writing email for group discussions - read through
it first and then check which address it is going to, before clicking
'Send'.
The suggestion last month about using signature blocks really applies
in this situation - how will people know who you are, or where you come
from if you only sign off as 'Kathie'?
Another suggestion - trim the message before sending it back to the group.
What I mean by this is do not leave all the original discussion and replies
at the tail end as this is unnecessary and makes it inconvenient for those
who have chosen to receive a daily digest of messages (they keep reading
the same things over and over otherwise) and difficult for those who are
on limited bandwidth for email. But don't delete the whole previous message
- if you are responding to something, or adding to the discussion. There
are often multiple discussions going on and it could prove difficult for
the reader to understand what you're saying, and in what context, if the
whole previous message is deleted from your response. I have at times
read something posted to a group and thought 'huh?' There is a happy medium
here.
Discussion groups give you an opportunity to learn from others and share
ideas, but more than that, it allows you to make friends on a global scale,
and then the world really does seem to become smaller. And, if you are
really knowledgeable in your field, it also helps enforce this to others
and before you know it, you become a respected member that others seek
to learn from and perhaps be mentored by. What a privilege that can be!
One word of warning - belonging to multiple groups can become time consuming
and addictive! You could find yourself spending more time reading and
responding to messages than getting your work done. So, if you work virtually
like I, and my team do, that can become a real danger to your business.
As in all things, moderation is the key, and you stand to learn many things
and make lots of friends.
Next month I'll cover Topic Changes and Read Receipts.
"Laughter is the shortest distance between two people." Victor Borge
For
quotes like this one and more, why not visit www.motivationalquotes.com?
Please
note the new postal address at the beginning of this newsletter and update
your records.
For regular readers of ACS
News the newsletters for 2003 come in a totally new format and look.
I hope you like it! Some of the regular items have been delegated to
a web page for you to view at your leisure, and time and again if you
desire.
The popular web links can now be found under Business Partners. Testimonials under Case Studies. List of new ACS members at VA Directory. And click here for my current rates. You will note a change in the rates for some services - the rates have stayed the same for several years and only went up because of the addition of GST. However, related costs continue to go up and as such, I've had to adjust my own rates accordingly. Please note that these rates do not apply to the team members of "A Clayton's Secretary" - each member works with their own rates, depending on their geographical location, experience and skill.
Have a great month and a great year!
Kathie
Award-winning
Secretarial
Support with Virtual Assistants
The
team at “A Clayton’s Secretary” wish you the very best for 2003 in
the way of business success, prosperity, family blessings, peace, joy and
contentment.
Providing global support in many languages
to businesses around the world!
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