Ongoing Group Conversations

When it comes to ongoing e-mail conversations amongst a group folks, whether it be for business or personal, there are a few things to keep in mind.

All to often there is a lack of thought when clicking "Reply to All". Unless "all" needs to be aware or cares about your comments -- which is usually not the case -- one should remove any e-mail address of those that don't need or wouldn't be interested in your comments.

Then, you add that many don't make the effort to down-edit their ongoing conversations and you have a mess and opportunity for miscommunication. When everyone has to weed through all the back and forths, the conversations looses its focus.

Here are some tips to consider when you find yourself involved in an ongoing back and forth e-mail conversation:

1) Use Reply to All sparingly and only when absolutely necessary. The majority of times, editing down the list of addresses to those who your comments directly apply is recommended.

2) Always down-edit ongoing conversation to include only that from the previous e-mails that is required for the clarity of the continuing conversation.

3) If the overall topic of the conversation takes a new direction, do change the Subject field to note the new focus. For example: Subject: Trip Details and Links WAS: Where should we go?

HTH!