AVOIDING THE PITFALLS OF E-MAIL BLUNDERS

Many of you will know that the sending/receiving of email forms a huge part (if not almost all of my working day).  Internet technology makes it possible for me to communicate with people all around the world in a meaningful way, whether for research, education, business or enjoyment.

I am certainly not alone, according to research by The Radicati Group, there are approximately 1.1 billion email users worldwide and nearly 1.4 billion active email accounts (March 06).  That equates to about one in every six persons on the earth using email.  They estimate that the number of emails sent per day to be around 171 billion.  171 billion messages per day means almost 2 million emails are sent every second. I've yet to find any stats to support how many relate to business communications.

Email has become such a relied-upon business tool that your average worker would probably wrestle anyone trying to take it from them. According to industry analyst firm the Meta Group, email overtook the telephone at least two years ago as the preferred communication tool in the office. A Meta survey showed that 74% of businesspeople said being without email would present more of a hardship than being without the telephone. 

For many business people, like me, e-mail is the primary mode of communication. But although you rely on e-mail every day, you may not yet have mastered the complex set of rules and customs that govern its use. Sure, forgetting to attach a file to your message once in a while is no big deal, but more frequent lapses could have unfortunate consequences. Poor netiquette could annoy or offend your colleagues and clients, prompting them to question your professionalism or their business relationships with you. 

Careless clicks can, and do, sink corporate ships, so here are a couple of useful checklists that you may wish to review. 

Avoiding the pitfalls of e-mail blunders
 

Sending e mails that could get you fired

If you're not careful, your e-mail can get you fired. Think that's a remote possibility? Think again. Abuse of company internet and e-mail is the single most common trigger for disciplinary action in the UK, according to recent research.

Most corporate policies regarding e-mail are fairly simple and straightforward and usually grounded in good old common sense.

You want to keep your job? If so, never send:

Sexually explicit messages - No matter how great the temptation, don't recount personal details in an e-mail to anyone if you're using your work address. You may find it titillating to exchange electronic love notes with your paramour, but it could cost you your job or your marriage. Consider Boeing's CEO Harry Stonecipher who stepped down after a series of e-mails exposed an illicit affair with a co-worker.

Pornographic photos – Two of Scottish Courage’s city brewery workers have been sacked after being caught distributing pornography by e-mail to staff at work. Is your job and family's security worth that?

Disparaging remarks about the boss - Here's a fun fact of corporate life of which you may not be aware: Your company probably has a system in place to monitor your e-mail. Complain about the boss and chances are very high someone you really don't want to read your tirade will see it- your boss. Vent verbally. That's why there's a coffee machine!

Jokes to colleagues you don’t know well – Not all colleagues will share your sense of humour, especially when it comes to off-colour, sexist, or racist jokes. True story: After Chevron employees passed around an e-mail titled "25 reasons why beer is better than women," four female employees sued the company for sexual harassment. The cost to Chevron: a whopping $2.2 million. Not much of a joke, after all.

Sensitive, personal information - When it comes time for employees' quarterly and annual reviews, do it in person and not by e-mail. When you use e-mail to communicate an employee's performance evaluation, salary package, and Social Security number that can become part of the public record should the company be investigated or get involved in a legal action.  A UK government department inadvertently emailed sensitive documents to the BBC about the management of a contentious issue with a Financial Times journalist.

E-Mail Blunders:

Lycos reported (March 06) that emails sent in error are at the astonishing rate of 42 every minute, leading to a tangle of secret and sexy messages reaching the wrong email user every day.  The research found that 60% of internet users admit they have misdirected an email in the past 12 months.

In a world where personal missives can instantly tour the globe with a click of the “send” or “forward” button, others have suffered far greater consequences. When they get into the wrong hands, indiscreet e-mails can cost people jobs, clients, business deals, even marriages.

The most common email error was replying to the original sender instead of forwarding the message on (34%), while over 30% of email blunders revealed confidential information.

Lycos found these email blunders have caused embarrassment and humiliation for both recipient and sender: 50% of internet users admit they have had having to make grovelling apologies as a result of their mistakes.

In most cases eating humble pie for months has been enough, but in extreme situations, some almost one in ten blunderers (8%) have made life-long enemies from their mistakes.

60% have sent an email to entirely the wrong person, with nearly 1 in 3 incorrect messages including sexy or rude images in error, which are entirely inappropriate for the recipient.

Almost a quarter of messages (23%) made fun of the person it was sent to and over 15% included had sent critical emails to entirely the wrong person.

Another common mistake is forwarding messages which have previous conversations further down in the email contents, with over 30% of wayward messages revealing more than their senders intended.

The e-mail messages you send may be saying a lot more about you than you realise. They provide a window into your workplace status, work habits, stress levels and even your personality. Here are some pointers to consider:

Don't write when you're angry or drunk - Wait 24 hours. Calm down. Be reasonable. Have someone else edit your e-mail. Never use e-mail to 'let off steam'. Save your immediate wrath or criticism for face-to-face meetings or to the phone. Better to take a deep breath, go and get a coffee and wait a day. Delays will help you preserve relationships and demonstrate emotional maturity. 

Reconsider every message - Set a ' 5 or 10 minute don't send rule' for most e-mail. Instead, save them in your 'drafts' folder-you'll be surprised how given a five minute lapse you will be able to retract a poorly written message or reconsider your response to something important.

Don’t click "Send" too fast – Check the intended recipient. UK government adviser Alistair Campbell accidentally sent an expletive-laden email tirade against a BBC journalist to the journalist in question.

Language matters - Use spell-check and your thesaurus. Mangled sentences and typos make you appear careless or even just plain ignorant.

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Don’t use all UPPERCASE! -  That's the e-mail equivalent of yelling. Your recipient won't be appreciative. Go easy on the exclamation marks, too. Overuse dulls their effectiveness.

E-mail is almost like talking. We use it so much that we don't really think about it. But there are rules and courtesies, just as there are with talking. And there are other considerations involved in communicating by written word only.  Be thoughtful before launching an e-mail into cyberspace to ensure you send the right message with both your words and actions.

Finally, if you're in the mood for something a little more light-hearted, take a look at this - a list of best 'Out of Office' auto replies.