We’ve all received them… “fwd” emails.  Some are great and helpful.  Many are – well… not; they’re jokes, or junk.

If you plan on sending a message by using the “fwd” function, take a few minutes to clean it up and make it worthwhile to the recipient.  Start by taking all but one “fwd” out of the subject line.  Many email programs automatically do this for you, but it’s a good habit to check your subject line anyway.  Not too many people actually open and read the message that begins “Fwd: fwd: fwd: fwd: fwd: fwd: fwd: This one is REALLY funny!”  Next, clean up the content of the email.  Remove all of the previous email addresses and user information from the body of the text so that the message contains only the information you wish to forward.

Once you’ve cleaned it up a bit, add a personal note at the beginning:

Something along the lines of, “Suzanne, I thought this one would be of interest to you.  Enjoy!”

If you’re sending it to more than one person, address it to yourself and use the BCC function to help alleviate the possibility of your friends email addresses being sent along with the next forward.

If you are forwarding something that is “too good to be true”, then it probably is.  There is a great resource to check the authenticity of emails floating around.  It is www.snopes.com.  Check out the email first to verify it’s content before sending it on.

And last but not least, the fwd-ing of chain letters such as “send this to 10 people within the next 5 minutes and something REALLY great will happen”, don’t work.  Save yourself the 5 minutes of anxiety (waiting for that said “great” thing to happen) and hit delete.

As an adult, playing a few pranks in the office can lighten the mood and bring some fun and excitement into the workplace.  On the other hand, it can cause stress, create unnecessary problems, breed animosity and cut into productivity.

If you like to get into the spirit of the day and you’re busy scheming and planning the perfect prank, always ask yourself  “how would I feel if this joke were played on me?”  Also, keep in mind the timing of your prank.  It may be April Fool’s Day on the calendar, but if you’re timing is wrong and if your prank is unprofessional – you may end up being the Fool.

MIT, Charm School?  Yes, you read that correctly.  Many of the self proclaimed science and math nerds at this prestigious University sign up for the elective class credit of “Charm School” to help prepare them for employment.  “Charm School” has been in operation for 19 years and is offered as a tool to help offset the “nerd” image that so many have come to associate with MIT.  “Charm School” is working to ensure when the students venture out with their MIT degree into the workforce, that they are also equipped with a bit of social polish… making for well-rounded employees.

If you would like us to work with your staff or team to create a unique version of “Charm School” for your company, shoot us an email or give us a call.  It’s actually quite a bit of fun!

For more information about MIT’s “Charm School”, you can watch a recently aired special which appeared on the CBS News Sunday Morning Show:  http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7400882n&tag=contentMain;contentBody