The Pan-African Film and Television Festival, Fespaco, is a biennial
event that has been running since 1969.
Full story on http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6394133.stm
Festival Website http://www.fespaco.bf/index_en.html
My early days in office have been somewhat very interesting and eye opening. Having served as an APN partner for the last two years I now get the opportunity to turn things around and fix everything that I winged about before. But, that is well easier said than done. For the first time I get to see the magnitude of the expectations I had for Jenny and Cheryl. Why would a simple task like communicating with me (us) the partners prove so difficult? All I (we) wanted was to be consulted in the projects formative stages so as we can participate and actually feel like we own the projects.
On the contrary, however, this is not simple at all and amongst all the variables (like partners with their own busy schedules) there is but one non-variable item that cannot be negotiated – Time!
Communicating this urgency, even when deadlines are stated in emails sent, does not seem to stir the response you require. Picking up the telephone doesn’t seem to be the answer either as typically long distance calls cost a fortune and, if calling Africa, some how less audible. So emailing is by far the most effective communication tool we possess as a network and yet it is not being used correctly.
I wrote two pages of how I thought emailing should be conducted – based on recent failures to communicate. I then decided to Google the subject - email etiquette - and to my surprise there was abundance of information and tips on how people should communicate with email. This signalled to me the magnitude of improper use of the email utility – it is worldwide.
My subject therefore is about something that every emailer at some point or another felt very frustrated about. Remember the old telephone etiquette classes; how many times you should let the phone ring; state the name of the organisation; don’t pick up the phone, finish some conversation you are having with a friend while we listen, and then say hello; don’t transfer people without telling them who you are putting them through to; and so on.
I have picked up a few do’s and don’ts from the websites tagged at the end of this article, and chosen what I thought was most frustrating for me, but the list goes up beyond 30 so do click on the web links to view them.
What are the etiquette rules?
It is amazing to find that in this day and age, some companies have still not realized how important their email communications are. Many companies send email replies late or not at all, or send replies that do not actually answer the questions you asked. If your company is able to deal professionally with email, this will provide your company with that all important competitive edge. Moreover by educating employees as to what can and cannot be said in an email, you can protect your company from awkward liability issues. This website discusses the main etiquette rules and provides advice on how employers can ensure that they are implemented.
1. Be concise and to the point.
Do not make an e-mail longer than it needs to be. Remember that reading an e-mail is harder than reading printed communications and a long e-mail can be very discouraging to read.
2. Answer all questions, and pre-empt further questions.
An email reply must answer all questions, and pre-empt further questions – If you do not answer all the questions in the original email, you will receive further e-mails regarding the unanswered questions, which will not only waste your time and your customer’s time but also cause considerable frustration. Moreover, if you are able to pre-empt relevant questions, your customer will be grateful and impressed with your efficient and thoughtful customer service. Imagine for instance that a customer sends you an email asking which credit cards you accept. Instead of just listing the credit card types, you can guess that their next question will be about how they can order, so you also include some order information and a URL to your order page. Customers will definitely appreciate this.
3. Use proper spelling, grammar & punctuation.
This is not only important because improper spelling, grammar and punctuation give a bad impression of your company, it is also important for conveying the message properly. E-mails with no full stops or commas are difficult to read and can sometimes even change the meaning of the text. And, if your program has a spell checking option, why not use it?
Customers send an e-mail because they wish to receive a quick response. If they did not want a quick response they would send a letter or a fax. Therefore, each e-mail should be replied to within at least 24 hours, and preferably within the same working day. If the email is complicated, just send an email back saying that you have received it and that you will get back to them. This will put the customer's mind at rest and usually customers will then be very patient!
IF YOU WRITE IN CAPITALS IT SEEMS AS IF YOU ARE SHOUTING. This can be highly annoying and might trigger an unwanted response in the form of a flame mail. Therefore, try not to send any email text in capitals.
6. Don't leave out the message thread.
When you reply to an email, you must include the original mail in your reply, in other words click 'Reply', instead of 'New Mail'. Some people say that you must remove the previous message since this has already been sent and is therefore unnecessary. However, I could not agree less. If you receive many emails you obviously cannot remember each individual email. This means that a 'threadless email' will not provide enough information and you will have to spend a frustratingly long time to find out the context of the email in order to deal with it. Leaving the thread might take a fraction longer in download time, but it will save the recipient much more time and frustration in looking for the related emails in their inbox!
7. Read the email before you send it.
A lot of people don't bother to read an email before they send it out, as can be seen from the many spelling and grammar mistakes contained in emails. Apart from this, reading your email through the eyes of the recipient will help you send a more effective message and avoid misunderstandings and inappropriate comments.
8. Do not overuse Reply to All.
Only use Reply to All if you really need your message to be seen by each person who received the original message.
9. Do not forward chain letters.
Do not forward chain letters. We can safely say that all of them are hoaxes. Just delete the letters as soon as you receive them.
http://www.cit.gu.edu.au/~davidt/email_etiquette.htm
Enock Chinyenze
