Communications
Etiquette
Which do you use
more often, the phone or email? Even though MIT students use email for much
of their correspondence, the telephone remains to be an important communications
methods. After all, no words can replace the tone of the human voice and what
emotions the voice can convey. Telephone manners are important though, as
that is often the first non-Internet method you use to contact someone, and
the first impression is always important. Here are some tips for Telephone
Manners.
- Answer
incoming calls quickly
- It
is inappropriate for the person calling you to wait for four rings or
more for you to pick up. Excessive rings are also an annoyance for your
roommates and colleagues in the workplace.
- Identify
yourself when the other party picks up the phone, especially if you know
the other party does not recognize your voice.
- Keep
it simple
- State
the purpose of the phone call directly and politely.
- Use
simple language—no need to use big words to show off.
- Speak
slowly and succinctly.
- Smile!
- Be
polite and considerate to the other party
- Avoid
inconvenient hours if you initiate a phone call—before 8 a.m. and after
11 p.m. for MIT students are good estimates, even though most students
tend to stay up past midnight.
- Listen
and do not interrupt.
- Be
as helpful as possible.
- Listen
actively—try to not ask the other party to repeat, unless the voice transmission
is muffled.
- Always
return calls within 24 hours.
- Respect
the other party’s privacy.
- How
to get off the phone politely
- Tell
the truth when you have to go. Be firm, especially if you are needed somewhere
else.
- Interrupt
the person’s chatter if you need to.
- Provide
the other party with a better time to call or another method of communication
such as email.
- Wrong
number
- Apologize
and say that you have the wrong number.
- Leaving
a message on the answering machine
- Be
clear and concise. Speak slowly. State the time and date.
Cellular
Phone Etiquette
Cellular phone
is the latest campus trend. The convenience of a cell phone is the key to
its success. Along with this trend, however, is the growing need for cell
phone etiquette.
Imagine yourself
sitting in 10-250 in the middle of an intense lecture on organic chemistry.
Just as you begin to understand the material, the neighboring student’s cell
phone starts to ring and distracts your thoughts. It is because of these stories
that cell phone etiquette deserves its own section.
- Etiquette
rules for telephone conversation apply to cell phones as well.
- Inform
the other party on the phone of your location if you are calling from a
cell phone—do not keep them guessing because that is distractive for a phone
conversation, and the party will understand if the signal fades or drops.
- Turn
the ringer to low or vibrate to avoid disturbing people.
- Avoid
using Für Elise or some
annoying high-pitched tune as your ringer. Just imagine ten different classical
songs in high squeaky pitch going off at the same time on a bus—you get
the idea.
- Cell
Phones in Public Places
- Unless
you are waiting for an important phone call, turn off your cell phone
before you enter public places such as the libraries, lecture halls, public
transportation, restaurants, hospitals, churches, etc.
- When
riding a public transportation, keep your conversation volume low. Avoid
extended calls.
- Do
not carry on a conversation on a cell phone during social gatherings.
- Having
a cell phone conversation in front of friends you were previously talking
to can be seen as rude and disrespectful. Your friends or colleagues may
feel unimportant. This makes you look bad.
- Arrange
cell phone conversations in a less disruptive location, especially if
the conversation is emotional.
- Do
NOT use the cell phone when you are driving!!! You are endangering your
life and the lives of others. If you must carry on a phone conversation
while you are driving, pull to the shoulder of the road. If this is repetitive,
consider purchasing a hands-free handset piece.
- Do
NOT speak any louder into the mouthpiece of a cell phone than you would
on a normal phone. Cell phones are sensitive and your other party will not
appreciate a deafening conversation.
Email
Etiquette
MIT students are
attached to their Athena email accounts the first day they arrive on campus.
Email is almost an essential part for most MIT students and a major method
of communication MIT students use to contact classmates, faculty, friends,
and even family. Email etiquette is not a subject taught in school but something
email users learn as they progress. Here are some helpful rules for someone
who wants to write an email correctly:
- Be
concise
- There
is no prize for writing a novel in an email message.
- People
(such as MIT students, faculty members, and potential employers) receive
many email messages each day, so it is courteous to keep your email concise
and to the point.
- Not
everyone has fast Internet connections, so a large email messages might
take someone a long time to download.
- Be
human
- Be
concise, but also remember you are in a sense talking to a human being.
Be nice and say hello.
- Be
sensitive and cautious. The recipient of the email may not share your
cultural background or opinions.
- Don’t
leave behind the common courtesy such as “please” and “thank you”. Email
is just like a phone call without the sound. Behave as if you are talking
to the recipient on the phone or in person.
- Do
not expect an immediate response. Do you live by your email client window?
Probably not, and neither does your email recipient. Wait for a few days
and do not get angry when the recipient has not replied to your email
for a few days. Kindly remind him or her via another email.
- There
is no such thing as “Privacy” in email
- There
is no 100% secure email system. Do not send extremely personal information
by email unless your message is reliably encrypted. You don’t want to
place yourself and your recipient in an awkward situation if someone else
reads the email.
- Include
a personal name if your email client allows it
- Pick
a sensible personal name, and not “Bugs Bunny”
- Include
a meaningful subject line
- People
receive many emails each day and it would be easier for people to browse
through the subject lines of the email and pick out you email to read.
- Change
the subject line when the email is a reply to a message (without detaching
from the threads). It is distracting to read subject lines that read “Re:
Re: Re: Re: dinner”.
- Avoid
excessive punctuation
- If
something is important, it will reflect so through the text. Excessive
exclamation marks are not necessary.
- Avoid
using HTML or rich text
- Not
everyone (esp. people outside MIT) use fancy email clients. Many email
clients and some servers cannot handle messages in HTML or rich text/graphic
format, and they will read them as “gibberish”.
- Use
underscore instead of italics, and reduce the number of special characters
like foreign accents that might not be readable to some email clients.
- Choose
your abbreviations wisely
- There
are many abbreviations, but use them wisely—if you think the recipient
may know what you mean by “ttyl” or “ttfn”, don’t use it.
Abbreviations common in the English language, such as “BTW” and “FYI”,
are acceptable.
- Do
NOT use ALL UPPER CASE
- Using
all upper case is equivalent to shouting at someone, not to mention it
is difficult to read all upper case letters. Use upper case to make a
point, but not through the entire message. Or, use asterisks to emphasize
your point.
- Spell-check
and proofread your email.
- Misspelled
words and poorly written messages are hard to read, not to mention the
less-than-ideal image you give to the recipient.
- In
most email clients you cannot retrieve and “unsend” a sent message. Read
it over.
- Remember
that you don’t have body language and speech tone to help the recipient
in interpreting your message. Watch what and how you phrase your words.
- Salutations
- Non-business
situation:
- Keep
it concise—address the person by “Dear John” or “John”.
- Do
not edit your recipient’s name unless you know for sure. Do not address
someone as “Liz” arbitrarily unless you know the recipient does not
go by “Elizabeth” or “Beth”.
- Business
situation:
- Address
the person by how you would address him/her in person.
- If
you are not sure, stick with the formal salutation of Miss/Mrs./Ms./Mr.
- Signatures
- Equivalent
to a letter head in a business letter, this is a good element since the
recipient may not recognize you by your email address.
- Include
your email address in your signature if you are sending this to someone
who does not know you initially, because it is difficult to locate an
email address through a large email document.
- Keep
it short—usually four to seven lines are sufficient.
- Quotes—keep
it short and definitely no longer than your message. The quote should
be a reflection of yourself, and not just some random quote from Jay Leno.
Avoid quotes that can be offensive to some people or quotes that only
your friends can understand.
- Threads
- When
you respond to someone’s email, reply instead of starting a new message
so that the thread is maintained (the original message will be posted
at the end of your reply email so the recipient can follow your response)
- Reply
to Email Messages
- Quotes
- Do
not reply with the entire original message if your answer is “yes” to
one question in the middle of the message. Quote the section relevant
to your response with ‘>’.
- Pay
attention to where your reply is sending to, especially if the message
is from a mailing list and you want to send a personal message to the
originator, only to find out the entire list has received a copy of the
email. It is also annoying for the mailing list users to read through
irrelevant emails.
- Send
out only important replies. For example, if you agree with a point made
in a mailing list email, don’t reply to the entire list with “I agree”.
Reply to the originator.
- Attachments
and Forwarded Messages
- Attachments:
- Make
sure the files you are sending to someone are free of viruses. Use compressed
files when possible, and always ask the recipient if he/she is willing
to accept the files. He/she may not be able to download a huge file
in a short amount of time.
- Forwarded
Messages:
- Do
not forward or “spam” a mailing list with a funny story you’ve read
that you want to share with everyone you know. People are busy and do
not want to read through all the forwarded messages.
- If
a forward is important, change the subject line to something informative
so that the recipient does not erase the message like he/she would to
other “Fwd: Re: Election jokes”.
-
Chain letters are unacceptable
network behavior. Do not forward chain letters to mailing lists, especially
those with threats of death or loss of love life.
- Don’t
be fooled by hoaxes! No system can keep track of how many emails you have
forwarded to give you monetary reward. Most viruses’ warnings are hoaxes
also. Check with legitimate websites for information before you forward
a fake virus warning to all your friends and relatives.