The Crabby Office lady has 10 e-mail crabs that she says everyone should pay attention to, especially in the workplace. And for most of them I agree with her. I'll outline her list here, but be sure to click over to her article to capture the wit she intended behind each item on the list. Or you can follow her suggestion to "print this list, frame it nicely, and hang it next to your computer."
Crab #1: Discretion is the greater part of replying
Imagine that you've received a piece of company-wide e-mail from someone in your very large organization. If you feel the need to respond to the sender, rest assured that every member of your very large organization does not want to have to read your reply, no matter how witty or urbane you may think it is. This goes the same for personal e-mail (especially if it's an Internet joke or rumor).
Crab #2: Stop yelling at me
USING ALL CAPITAL LETTERS IS NOT ONLY RUDE AND IRRITATING, IT'S ALSO HARD TO READ. Save your caps for special occasions, such as those times when you want your recipient to know you're shouting. GOT IT?
Crab #3: Save the stationery for snail mail
(For all of you who love to use background color and stationery for your personal e-mail, please disregard this crab. This one is for you people at the office.)
Crab #4: This is not a chain letter
If I send you a nice note and then get a response from you that, at first glance, appears to have only what I wrote to you at the top of it, I'm going to assume you have nothing to say to me (and sent me an empty e-mail message to tell me as much).
Let's put this another way: when you're replying to an e-mail message and you want to include what the sender wrote, add your comments at the top of the mail, not the bottom. I know what I wrote — why would I want to reread it?
That being said, I do see the logic in keeping all the notes and replies in order (my original message on top, followed by your reply, followed by my reply to your reply, and so on). Well, it may be like that in the snail mail world, but we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto. Adapt. Your reply on top, please — this isn't a chain letter. (And if it is, don't send it to me. But that's a crab of a different color.)
Crab #5: Too many forwards is one step backward
While you can cut some slack for those in your life who have just discovered that Great Oracle of Misinformation we call the Internet, it's just not appropriate, considerate, professional, or even cool to forward these useless things to coworkers.
Crab #6: Don't be a cyber-coward
If you've got something to say to me that is:
- Highly personal
- Scary
- Sad
- Angry
- Tragic
- Vicious
- Shocking
- Any combination of the aboveÂ…
Â…please do it in person. (Actually, I prefer you don't do it at all.) Sentient beings are filled with emotions (and NOT emoticons). E-mail programs aren't the best translators of this.
Crab #7: I love you but not your 500 KB image file
As I see it, there are three main reason why you should refrain from sending really large files via e-mail:
- It takes a long time to download a large file.
- E-mail servers are like studio apartments: there's only so much space to keep everything.
- Sometimes you're at the mercy of the ISP
So please consider the size the file you're sending. If it's a large image, make it smaller. If it's large document, zip it up using a file compression program.
Crab #8: The subject "Re: " means nothing to me
In other words, fill out the Subject line. I get hundreds of e-mail messages each day, and when I get one without anything in the Subject line, I tend to skip over it. If the subject of the message wasn't important enough for the sender to fill out the Subject line, then it's not important to me. Be gone!
Crab #9: Plain text and HTML are not buddies
If someone sends you mail in plain text format, you can usually tell because: 1) it has no formatting, and 2) the font it appears in is Courier. If you decide to reply to a plain-text sender using HTML format with special fonts and formatting, the text that your recipient receives will look like indecipherable nonsense that needs a Cold War code breaker to untangle its message. Do your recipients a favor: send your reply in the format it came in.
Crab #10: Itchy trigger finger? Count to 10 before hitting the Send button
You're hot under the collar and everybody knows that (and sometimes loves that) about you. But before sending your clever and scathing message out there to the world (with virtually no chance of retrieving it), remember this: the pushing of the Send button lasts a moment; its effects can last a lifetime — or at least until you're back on the streets, looking for another job.
If you use Outlook 2003, however, there is a way to delay that message — kind of like counting to ten before exploding. Learn about how to delay delivery of a message.
"Good manners are made up of petty sacrifices."— Ralph Waldo EmersonTags: Microsoft Office, E-mail, Technology, Office Etiquette
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment