Guidelines and Tips in Communicating by Email

From the National Representative Council “RepList N’etiquette”  Jean McQuaid, NRC

The basic “Bs”: Be courteous. Be respectful. Be civil. Even if someone else’s idea is the worst thing you have ever heard since you learned the meaning of the date April 15. Opposition fairly expressed, with specifics, will lead to consensus.

Propose and debate ideas, concepts and initiatives; do not dispute personalities, typos or grammar. A tip: always reread your email before sending. Although no one should correct your phrases, there are certainly occasions where faulty grammar and poorly typed messages can obscure your meaning.

If someone’s expression is not clear to you, politely ask for clarification before expounding on your own points.

Avoid the “me too” email; explain why you agree or disagree with a proposal or comment. Given the number of emails we see on our daily lists, it’s important that we make each email count. But that does not mean that you should be silent if you agree with a point. If we are to build consensus, we need to know if the general feelings/thoughts within the group are for or against a particular proposal.

Check your subject lines before sending email. The easiest way to keep track of a particular conversation online is to find all the emails with the same Subject heading.

Be kind to other readers and “snip” the message to which you are replying; the original message appearing either above or below the reply you send. By leaving some of the original message there, others can figure out to what you are responding.