Etiquette relates to the ethical properties of social behavior and professional practice when dealing with one another. Especially at your work place and more specifically, digital communication. Yes that’s my sly way of introducing Email Etiquette. Which now days includes texting as well. It is very important to remember that in written text the communicator loses 3 of the 5 forms of communication. And those 3 account for about 93% of all communications, as reported by some experts. That leaves you only 7% of the ability to communicate your thoughts and meanings to your recipient via typed words. It also places your level of success 100% within their perception. Sounds like a lost cause to me but it’s a part of life now and we must learn to navigate it effectively.
So what do you do? There are a few simple guidelines that you can apply that will help you send more clear and concise emails in a more professional manner. No, I’m not just talking about the highly emotional rant from an incredibly disgruntled coworker with ALL CAPS and lots of multiple !!!!!!!! and ??????? and lots of intended sarcasm. Those fall into the Common Sense category. If you wouldn’t say it face to face, don’t send it in a text or email. If you’re angry or emotional, keep your fingers off the keys. Common sense, right? So here’s a few more you might not have thought of that fall more into the Professional category. Happy typing. J
- Always use your work email address for work. It’s typically not desirable to receive business correspondence from “lovekitten@” or “partyman@”.
- Never use your work email for personal communication. Kind of a no brainer. Gmail is free.
- Always include a Subject line. Preferably one that relates to the email. Don’t put your message in the subject line.
- Don’t always “reply all”. The context of the email will hint towards a singular reply or a reply all.
- Use professional common courtesy like Hi and Hello, Mr. and Mrs. And Thank You, Sincerely, Best Regards.
- Be cautious with humor. What you find funny, others may find offensive. If in doubt, leave it out.
- Refrain from formatting emails. Big bold purple letters in a custom font on a funky background may not even display or can even get blocked.
- Don’t use old emails to start new communication. Gives the perception of laziness. Start a new one.
- Down edit replies. Don’t include the previous message text unless it’s necessary.
- Use a short and clean signature. Avoid personal quotes that aren’t business related.
- As always, proof read and spell check before sending.
A beautiful water sculpture will soon grace the Central Park Mall, creating a wonderful space for everyone at Beatitudes Campus to enjoy. The sculptor, Arizona-born Fred Bendheim, and the Bendheim family generously donated the water sculpture to Beatitudes Campus in the hopes that it would be enjoyed by more people – residents, family and friends – as a public art sculpture than if it were placed in a private setting.
The water sculpture will take a few weeks to install. Work is now being done to create the colored concrete base and water source. The base for the sculpture and construction costs are underwritten by generous donors to the Art Fund at the campus.
I’m sure we all know what a manila folder is right? I’ll even bet a few old school diehards still use them today. The word Manila actually refers to the manila hemp that they were originally made from. These days they also come in the form of strings of ones and zeros grouped together in a computer’s memory representing an image of what we have always known and recognized. By itself it does nothing more than hold a few papers which are likely related to a similar topic. But combine them with tabs, dividers, larger folders, drawers and file cabinets and you have what is the most common means of record storage of this century. If you don’t believe me go look in Accounting. The same can be done on your computer and even influenced the way computers are set up today.
and can be accessed via your start menu or your quick launch bar at the bottom of your screen. When it opens you will see a list of folders and drive letters on the left and other icons representing different locations on your hard drive. Pay attention to the one named “Documents”. This is the default location where all of your personal data is stored. By clicking on Documents, you should see the default folders created by Windows and possibly other folders you may have already created. On the Campus network, this folder is actually redirected to a server where this data can managed and backed up but that’s a whole other unnecessary level of understanding. To create a new folder in your documents you can either right click with your mouse and click New Folder or click New Folder from the menu at the top of the screen. The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+Shift+N. Once you have created your folder you need to give it a name. If you don’t and accidentally click off of it, it will still show up with the name “New Folder”. To rename it, right click on it and click Rename. Now to store things inside that folder simply double click it or hit Enter with it selected and it opens to see the contents. If you want to go back up one level, you can either click the Up Arrow at the top of the drive list on the left or use the keyboard shortcut Alt+Up. Now you can create subordinate folders here and continue until your heart’s desire. However, always keep in mind that simple is better. If you don’t really need to separate something then don’t. You don’t want to get confused by your own organizing efforts.