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Reading Room Articles Netiquette By Tami Siewruk Netiquette (Internet Etiquette) refers to a set guidelines for responsible online behavior, including standards of conduct for communicating via e-mail. The guidelines presented here are general and can be used to develop policies for your community and company. Anyone who sends or receives e-mail should be aware of the guidelines that we'll discuss here. Before we begin, it's important that you and your team are always aware that in spite of the lack of face to face interaction, there are still human beings on each end of the e-mail messages that we send. With that in mind, let us continue with the primary factors that we should consider when communicating via e-mail: 1. Is the message being sent to the appropriate destination? When initiating a message, check twice to ensure that the address is correct. When replying to a message, consider whether your reply should be directed to only the original sender, or also to others who may have received the message concurrently. If your reply is no longer related to the subject of the e-mail, you should send it privately to the person who wrote the original message. Also, if the original sender volunteered to summarize responses, you should generally send your message privately to him or her. 2. Is the subject line descriptive of my message? Those of us who have been online for a while have probably been tricked more than once into opening a junk e-mail message, or spam, because of an enticing subject line that had nothing to do with the actual content of the message. Please be respectful of your recipient(s) by accurately and concisely describing the contents of the message in the subject line. Never send e-mail that doesn't contain a subject line. 3. Keep the "thread" manageable. Because messages are often sent to several recipients at once, a message thread (or series of e-mail messages between parties on a single subject) can extend to several communications from several contributors, and even for several days or even weeks! To keep the thread manageable, it's appropriate when replying to include only the portions of a message that are relevant to your reply. Delete headings, signature files, and any part of the message you are not replying to. 4. Keep it brief. A safe rule of thumb is to include only one subject per e-mail, and no more text than you can read in your own mail window when composing the message. The longer the message, the less chance people will read it. 5. Does the message say something more than "me too"? This goes back to the first point that we made - don't send your message to the entire group if it's really only relevant to one person. If all you have to say is "I agree," do not send your message to the entire list. If you have relevant information to add to the "discussion", then it can appropriately be sent to the entire list. 9. Have you offered to summarize the replies to any question asked to more than one recipient? Certain questions will elicit many responses. In this case, it's most efficient to ask respondents to reply directly to you only. You may offer to summarize responses and share them with the entire audience (unless a contributor requests otherwise). 10. Did you proofread the message? Even if your browser has a spell checker you should reread you entire message before clicking SEND. Messages with spelling and grammatical errors can reflect poorly on the writer. 11. Make sure the message is relevant. If you're not replying directly to an e-mail message in such a way that the subject carries over, then by all means, make sure the subject line is appropriate, and that the content of the message will make clear and complete sense to the person on the receiving end. 12. Recognize the difference between primary addressees and courtesy addressees. Your e-mail window includes a "To" box and a separate "CC" box for a very good reason. Messages should be addressed "To" anyone who has a particular interest in the content, personal responsibly to act on or reply to the message, or an immediate need to know. Courtesy copies, or "CCs" should be sent to those who have an interest in the message, but no responsibility to directly act or reply. Keep this in mind when sending messages as well as receiving them. As Chief Imagination Officer of The Sales & Marketing Magic Companies, Tami Siewruk shares more than 20 years of experience in multifamily housing, encompassing leasing, marketing, management, training, authoring, consulting, developing, and Brainstorming! For more information on Tami's newsletter, Sales & Marketing Magic for Apartment Managers; the latest Tools & Forms Catalogue; The Annual Multifamily Housing Brainstorming Sessions™; or to receive Tami's top ideas, FREE, via e-mail, please call 727-784-9469 or visit www.SMMOnline.com.