Less is more

Lunch & Learn: The growing risk of e-mail and blog mis-use

For today's employers proper employee use of e-mail, message boards, media-sharing Web sites and blogs is becoming increasingly important. Yesterday, Kelly Savage of Sedgwick Detert Moran & Arnold LLP discussed the growing risk of e-mail and blog mis-use with our lunch & learn attendees and offerred advice on implementing a successful electronic communication security policy to prevent the devastating consequences associated with employee abuse of of these and other electronic forms of communication.

Kelly represents clients in the pharmaceutical, manufacturing, transportation, computer, real estate and insurance industries and has almost a decade of experience counseling and defending companies in state and federal court at both the court and appellate level. Her presentation included polls that showed lunch & learn attendees experiencing e-mail and blog mis-use issues at their companies with the same frequency as the surveys Kelly was referencing. As many as one in three employers say they have investigated a suspected leak of confidential proprietary information in the last year, and 27.6 percent of employers surveyed have terminated an employee for violating e-mail policies.

With the issue clearly significant and growing, Kelly outlined an effective security policy to help address the issues. She also offerred to provide a sample security policy to any company who may need it as a reference point. You can contact Kelly at kelly.savage@sdma.com.

Also, check out Kelly's slides from the presentation:

Download Lunch_and_Learn_Email_Blog_Misuse

Join us for our upcoming free lunch & learn session!

Working together effectively: Using DiSC to help teams collaborate (on Thursday, December 11th, 2008 from 12:00 noon to 12:45 pm Pacific Time)

Register for Using DiSC to help teams collaborate

Our lunch & learn program description and registration

Get your brown bag lunch (or snack) ready, and join us online every Thursday at 12:00 noon Pacific Time for 45 minutes to learn the latest and most innovative tips and techniques for individual and team productivity, and get the latest updates about important workplace and productivity issues.

Review program and register for our lunch & learn webinars

Upcoming Lunch & Learn Webinar on the Growing Risk of E-mail and Blog Mis-use

Proper employee use of e-mail, message boards, media-sharing Web sites and blogs is of critical importance to today’s employers. According to various surveys, as many as one in three employers say they have investigated a suspected leak of confidential proprietary information in the last year. Moreover, 27.6% of employers surveyed have terminated an employee for violating e-mail policies.

When employees misuse e-mail, message boards, and blogs in the workplace, it raises a host of security and liability issues. Employers must take steps to reduce the risks associated with employee-misuse of electronic communications to protect the assets of the business. This week's webinar will focus on creating and implementing a successful electronic communication security policy to prevent the devastating consequences associated with employee abuse of e-mail and other electronic forms of communication.

Join us for lunch and to learn more about the topic!

The growing risk of e-mail and blog mis-use (Thursday December 4th, 2008 from 12:00 noon to 12:45 pm Pacific Time)

Register for The growing risk of e-mail and blog mis-use lunch & learn webinar

Our lunch & learn program description and registration

Get your brown bag lunch (or snack) ready, and join us online every Thursday at 12:00 noon Pacific Time for 45 minutes to learn the latest and most innovative tips and techniques for individual and team productivity, and get the latest updates about important workplace and productivity issues.

Review program and register for our lunch & learn webinars

Writing in all caps versus small letters

Not only people will think you are screaming at them when you write an e-mail, or even a few words in an e-mail, in capital letters, but it will take them longer to read it. Some studies say 15% longer but for me it feels much longer than that.

How about writing in small letters? It is definitely easier to read, it looks friendlier, and it is more accepted. As a general e-mail etiquette however, I would suggest to match the level of formality of the person you are communicating with and of the relationship you have with that person.

Now, to illustrate how easy it is for our brain to read text written in small letters, try to read the paragraph below. This would be almost impossible to read in capital letters:

“Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.

cehers"