Netiquette Improves effectiveness of leadership

 

The world thrives on online communication. A good leader knows how to connect with people not only in his professional but personal life as well. Internet has a dramatic influence on a person’s communication pattern and the quality of relationships that he shares with different sets of people. Hence to be a good leader one has to be good at internet etiquette. 

The following simple rules of online communication should always be followed:

Be polite

 If you are polite; others will be polite to you too. Imagine a situation when you have got a very rude email. Wouldn’t it disturb your mental equilibrium compared to an email which is firm but polite? In the absence of any facial clue or body language you might give wrong signals to people even when you did not have any intention of hurting others. Hence politeness is important to create goodwill. Write messages that you will be able to convey on the receiver’s face as well.

Be creative in criticism

 If you really have to be rude to someone because you have shown enough patience and can’t take it anymore; then be creative with your criticism. Always keep in mind that unlike face-to-face communication, messages transmitted online have storage value and can be accessed even after many years. Hence even if you are irritated, don’t write anything that you might later have to regret. Try to be as less offensive as possible. In the garb of an important confrontation; don’t hurt other people’s feeling. If you point a finger at a person; remember, four fingers are pointing at you. So just be careful before being sarcastic.

Send prompt replies

Be prompt in answering to messages whether it is an important email or a casual message on facebook. The people who reply to messages within a few hours are considered smarter compared to those who allow their messages to remain unread in their inboxes for several days.

Don’t disappear abruptly in the middle of an online conversation

If you are chatting with someone; don’t disappear abruptly. If something urgent needs to be attended to; just a few words like ‘will get back to you later / in half an hour / tomorrow’ or ‘will continue some other day’ is a courteous way  to say goodbye. Aborting an online communication abruptly is rude. Don’t keep the person on the other end wondering where you suddenly vanished. Would you like someone to walk out of the room when you are talking to him? Won’t it be insulting?

Mind your typographical errors

Nothing is as irritating as reading silly typo mistakes. You are simply making yourself appear stupid by doing so and in addition to that you are killing someone’s valuable time by making him spend more time in understanding the contents of your message. If you don’t have time to write long messages; keep it short but avoid errors. Throw a quick glance at what you have typed before sending it because just like spoken words; the harm caused by written words cannot be undone.

Have I written something which is new to you? Your answer would be a BIG NO. All of us know these rules. Yet we cannot confidently say that we never make the above mentioned mistakes.

Our minds are buzzing with a dozen things that we need to take care of. We are multitasking all the time. But all this is not a good excuse to be bereft of netiquette. The lower your level of etiquette on the internet; the grimmer are chances of building successful relationships both in personal as well as professional lives. However, be forgiving towards those who possess lesser netiquette than you. Also, do not reciprocate someone’s bad online communication style. Though you are communicating with a machine during an online communication; after pressing the ‘send’ button your message will reach someone who is ‘real’ and has feelings and emotions just as the person sitting next to you in your office. Don’t get influenced. Rather try to leave an impact on others by your own impeccable netiquette.