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Top tips from Mesmo Consultancy (and Associates) on how to save time and improve business and personal performance by ‘Taking Control of your Inbox’ and using proper business email etiquette.

Sony hacking saga – lessons to learn

Friday December 19th, 2014, 5:43 pm

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Email etiquette for reputation and brand preservation

What can we learn from the Sony hacking 2014 saga? First and foremost no one is immune from cyber crime, regardless of the technology you put in place.  Second is just how nasty, vengeful and determined are today’s hackers.  Third, nothing is confidential once committed to email.

It is not just the scale of the attack (possibly costing Sony up to $200M) and the stealing of corporate confidential data which should be ringing alarm bells.

It is all the in-fighting and bickering which the leaked emails disclosed which should be raising the fire alarm in every CEOs ears (regardless of the business’s size and sector).

Why is that email seduces us into committing vituperative words to the archives?  We would never put them down on pen and paper and if we did they would most probably be shredded before they were ever sent.

Perhaps one reason is the 24 x 7 x 365 world in which we live and the feeling that we must either respond and say what’s on our mind regardless of what might happen to these words. Equally email does not have the tactile sense of permanency of paper.  Although that might change now with such a high profile hacking incident.

What lessons can lesser mortals and smaller businesses learn from such a malicious attack?  From the email perspective here are my key learning points.

  1. Adopt quiet and slow email in 2015.
  2. Before hitting send ask yourself what if hackers found this email?
  3. Build in a cooling off period before sending emails which contain controversial content.
  4. Encrypt emails which contain controversial and/or confidential information.
  5. Train members of your organisation in business email etiquette best practice to reduce leaking sensitive and potentially damaging information.

We have helped many clients prevent emails wars.  For a free consultation on how we can help you and your organisation reduce the risk of damaging your brand and professional reputation please contact us by email or phone us now.

 

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December Articles of Note

Thursday December 11th, 2014, 11:36 am

Here are five which caught our attention

After 15 years of practice why are we still so awful at email?  A short article by Lucy Kellaway on all those sloppy email habits which annoy and stop people reading your emails.Typewritter

Email advice: how to take back control of your inbox  A review of some of the email software which can help you downsize your inbox – assuming you have done your homework on what you do and do not need to see.

As we look ahead to 2015 there have been several thought provoking articles on the change being wrought by e-communications and social media including:

Think outside the inbox – Dr Seeley’s latest HuffingtonPost blog: advice on how to keep pace with the ever faster changing pace of technological change

How the internet is changing how we think – not just how we shop but our cognitive processes too.

Social networks are now the staple of office life – will there still be a role for email?  An insightful piece about what office communications might look like in a a few years.

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Email etiquette to avoid silly hat email

Thursday December 11th, 2014, 11:16 am

Email etiquette to impress

Email etiquette to impress

A new edition of Debrett’s was recently released.  We are often asked should an email be as perfect as a letter.  In a word ‘yes’. It was fascinating to watch how diligently journalists in the recent TV series on the Tatler magazine read it closely before communicating with prospects.  We can all learn some lessons on how good etiquette even in emails can improve communications and relationships.

Coming back to the office after a  festive party and dealing with your emails in haste and it is easy to let your professional email etiquette slip and look like you are still wearing your party hat. Here are our top five tips to help you maintain your professional e-dress code when all around you are still in festive mode.

  1. Put all emails you write in draft for at least five minutes.  You can use a rule to automate the process.
  2. Keep to a professional greeting no matter how tempted you are to be more relaxed.
  3. Avoid slipping into using a sloppy sign off.
  4. Make sure you have put people in the right address line according to what action you need from the them.  For a reminder of the correct use of To: Cc and Bcc  click here.
  5. Try shortening the content by 10 to 20%.  This will help focus both yours and the recipient’s attention about what is the purpose of your email.

Click here to benchmark your current email etiquette.

Could you and your business save time and improve customer relations by using excellent email etiquette?  Contact us now to discuss how our Brilliant Email Management masterclass have helped other organisation like you.  Call us on +44(1) 01202 434340 or email us.

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To versus Cc for email

Wednesday November 26th, 2014, 6:27 pm

To or Cc

To or Cc

When sending an email, the action you want from the recipient(s) dictates which address box you put their name.

‘To’ is for action.  You expect an action from those whose name is in that line. If there are multiple people in the To box be sure to spell out who is expected to take action (when and how).

‘Cc’ is for information only.  It implies that no reply is either expected or necessary. Good email etiquette dictates that if you are in the Cc line and  feel you must voice your opinion, only reply to the sender.

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Books on the bedside table

Tuesday November 4th, 2014, 11:30 pm

A trip to the USA means some unusual books made their way onto the table last month.

The Map Thief by Michael Blanding.  An esteemed dealer who becomes an obsessive thief of rare maps.  A must for any map collector but also a good read for those who like intrigue.IMG_2255

The Guest Cat by Takashi Hiraide.  A delightful story set in Japan with a very good insight in to Japanese culture and life.

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan.  Frank Lloyd was an inspirational architect and very naughty.  Not a new book but new to us.

Zingerman’s Guide to Good Eating by Ari Weinzweig. Zingermans is an institution in Ann Arbor MI and this wonderful book is by one of its founders.

Adventures in Stationery: a journey through your pencil case by James Ward.  They say the history of stationery is the history of civilisation.  How true.  This book also gives a history of some of the key inventors in the world of stationery such as Mr Biro.

The Innovators: how a group of hackers, geniuses and geeks created a digital revolution by Walter Isaacson.  Any new book by Isaacson is a must read and this is no exception for those interested in the evolution of the information age.

What’s on your bedside table (conventional or as an e-book)?

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