“There are four ways and only four ways in which we have contact with the world.
We are evaluated and classified by these four contacts:
What we do, how we look, what we say and how we say it.â€
Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) American Educator
Thoughts on e-communicating and e-manners:
- E-mail is forever.
- Always assume your e-mail can be forwarded..… to anyone, anywhere, indefinitely.
- Change the subject line title when the subject has changed. Also, reference a school name in the subject line. Many PTA volunteers are involved with two or more schools.
- Avoid criticizing and “correcting†when “replying to all’; direct your constructive criticism through a separate e-mail.
- Use “Reply All†wisely and sparingly. Give careful thought to what you say to the larger audience and avoid overloading your friends’ inboxes.
- Don’t use bad language (Refer to 1 & 2 )
- Don’t gossip, defame, or otherwise bad-mouth people in e-mail. (again, 1 & 2 )
- Do share the good PTA news with parent lists, such as accomplishments, awards, etc.
- Do spread the word when your school has reached a significant goal or benchmark.
- Use tools available to protect the privacy of your mail recipients, such as blind copying.
- Assure that only those who need to read your mail are the ones who receive it.
- Before clicking “send†take a breath and double –check details.
- Resist the urge to fire off quick e-mails requesting information you could easily look up on your own. Have fundamental PTA resources like rosters at hand.
- Think twice about casual forwarding of those oh-so-cute whimsical e-mails jokes, and “inspirations.†They can really add up. Also, some PTA friends may not share your views about non-schools topics.
- Do not use your PTA e-mail lists to advertise business-related opportunities or to solicit business contacts. Not only is it bad manners and an invasion of privacy, it is out of compliance with PTA’s non-commercial policy.
- Avoid one-word or two-word answers. Be clear; be specific.