Overview
Today's session will continue the discussion focused on E-mail that we introduced last Friday. By the end of today's session, you will know:
1. How to send effective e-mail messages that comply with accepted standards of etiquette.
Sending Effective E-mail
Messages
Knowing how to compose, read, reply to, and forward e-mail messages is only part of being a successful user of this relatively new communication medium. Of equal importance is the fact that an entire set of rules, conventions, and styles has evolved relating to e-mail messages. Part of the reason for their development is that e-mail represents mode of communicating that is more formalized than spoken language, yet not as formalized as paper-based written communication.
Most e-mail users acquire a tacit understanding of what's effective (and even allowable) over the course of several years, by reading hundreds of e-mail messages and seeing the good, the bad, and the ugly in practice. Not surprisingly, several websites have been developed that discuss appropriate and effective e-mail practice. A few of these include:
- The Claris Guide to Email Etiquette
- Email etiquette from iwillfollow.com by Jeffrey M. Glover
- A Beginner's Guide to Effective Email by Kaitlin Duck Sherwood
- Ten Tips for Effective EMail by Ellen Dowling, Ph.D.
- Lepak's Guide To Email Etiquette
- Effective Email Techniques by Russ Haynal
- Email Etiquette from Linfield College
- A Neophyte's Guide to Effective E-Mail from webnovice.com
- Writing Effective Email by Dr. Robert Sullivan
- Tips on Effective Email Use by FRF 101O students at Wilkes University
Assignment:
In the next part of today's session, you will work in a team setting to develop a paper that outlines the most important practices relating to the effective use of e-mail. The paper (actually an annotated list) will include a series of ten practices that are most important in communicating effectively by e-mail. Each item should consist of a 5-10 word phrase, followed by 2-4 sentences of explanation.
Directions for the assignment are given here
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