Watching Your Netiquette

As you know, business communication is changing rapidly. In fact, the number of e-mail addresses has increased to over 200 million in the United States alone! And currently, over 80% of all communication is done via e-mail. In order to create the best written impression that you can, it’s imperative to follow some rules of netiquette (Internet etiquette). Here are some basic rules that will create a positive image of you and your business.

• Respond to an e-mail within the same period of time that you would return a telephone call. 24 hours is an appropriate length of time.
  
• Don’t use all CAPITAL LETTERS or lower case letters. Capital letters are a sign of shouting and the use of all lower case is just plain annoying.
  
• Never run all of your sentences together. Break up your thoughts with periods and other punctuation marks as well as paragraphs. Bullets & subtitles are also effective ways for communicating your information.
  
• Use face-to-face interactions instead of an e-mail for reprimanding an employee or co-worker. 80% of employees say it’s rude to deal with criticism or conflict online.
• Think twice about sending confidential information such as contracts or formal documents via e-mail.
• Don’t write anything in an e-mail that you wouldn’t want printed in your business newsletter.
• Never forward an e-mail, e-zine article, or other online materials without the author’s permission.
• E-mail is not an appropriate communication form for sending off-color jokes. In fact, e-mails have been used as evidence in sexual harassment cases.
  

Get in the habit of using netiquette as well as other respectful behaviors in all of your business interactions. For more strategies and tips on business communication, review our Online Courses and On-Site Training or send Judith an Inquiry E-Mail.