4 dumb e-mail mistakes HR should avoid
September 14, 2009 by Sam NarisiPosted in: Communication, HR Tech, Special Report - Tech
A New Zealand company recently made headlines after it fired an employee for sending an e-mail in all caps. That’s unlikely to happen at most organizations, but e-mail blunders can still do some damage.
At best, the sender is just a little embarrassed. At worst, an e-mail mistake results in a serious miscommunication, leaked information or an (unintentionally) angered recipient.
Here are four of the biggest e-mail mistakes — and how they can be avoided:
1. Sending “flame mail”
It’s easy to get snippy or sarcastic when you’re not actually talking to someone face to face.
Solution: Don’t send anything when you’re mad. Save a draft, come back to it in a half hour and see if you still really want to send it.
2. Coming off as angry and annoyed
Another problem with e-mail: Without the benefit of tone and body language, what’s written can easily be misinterpreted. Something meant to be innocuous or playful can be read as insulting or angry.
Solution: Avoid sarcasm and re-read the message to imagine all the ways the recipient could read it.
3. Forgetting to attach a file
It happens all the time: Someone will write an e-mail saying there’s a document attached and forget to add the attachment. Usually the sender doesn’t realize until he or she gets a response saying “Umm.. there’s nothing attached.”
Solution: Attach the file before you start writing, when it’s fresh in your mind.
4. Misusing urgency
It’s doubtful anyone wants to see an e-mail from HR saying “Come to my office ASAP.” If they don’t already know what you want to talk about, they’ll likely be expecting bad news.
Solution: Briefly explain what you need, or find a gentler way of getting someone’s attention — such as by using the phone or stopping by someone’s desk.
September 15th, 2009 at 9:12 am
ALL I HAVE TO SAY TO THE NZ COMPANY – WHAT?!
September 15th, 2009 at 9:16 am
Another tip – double check your addresses before hitting “send!”
September 15th, 2009 at 9:57 am
Also make sure what your sending isn’t something that will bite you in the rear later… There is an option to print the email…..
September 15th, 2009 at 10:17 am
“double check your addresses…” — AMEN! (Oops — “Amen”)
ALso “Reply to all” — especially if the initial list of recipients is long — triple-check to be sure there’s not someone on the list you really don’t want to see your respnse. Or better, use “forward” sinstead of “reply to all” so you have to actually enter the addressees you want.
Cautions on some email systems (no two are alike) — if you “reply to all” some systems (not all) will also send your reply to any “bc’s” on the original message & you won’t know who they are.
Some email systems let you type only a few letters of an email address & then automatically reads in whatever addressee’s name in your system that starts with the same letters. This can be very fast & convenient, but CHECK EACH TIME to make sure its the right name — your system may have captured more than one “Joe” or “Smith” & if you’re in a hurry it may go to the wromg one. Embarassing & potential liability if your message contains sensitive personal or business info.
Finally, re: “reply to all” — if there are any “mailing list” addresses (one address representing several recipients — maybe dozens or upwards of a hundred) DELETE THAT ONE (or better, use “forward” instead of “reply to all”) unless you REALLY want every anonymous person on that list to see your message. Even worse, this can set off an endless loop of other “replies to all” saying “Why did I get this message” which goes to whole mailing lists, provoking even more of the same etc. At one point in my former employer, the repeated flood of messages actually crashed our payroll system Not a happy day!
In short, do as I say, not as I’ve sometimes done…every one of these errors, BY ME OR OTHERS, has contributed to my becoming “Greybeard”
September 15th, 2009 at 11:38 am
Forwarding mishaps –
When your staff is reporting a situation in confidence, then you forward to others.
Ooops, your staff assumed that you would not do so… Remember to mark the message with the appropriate sensitivity-level…
Being courteous with references –
When referencing a statement (or opinion) from someone within your organization, it is only courteous to include them in the CC. This gives them an opportunity for a rebuttal if you misinterpret what they were saying…
NONE OF US HAVE EVER DONE THIS… RIGHT?
Ooops… It’s the darn all-cap-thing again!
September 15th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
PLEASE set up your spell checker to automatically check your spelling. There is nothing that screams unprofessional as spelling errors in business communications.
September 15th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Amen! I can’t believe the number of e-mails I receive from educated people with grammatical and spelling errors. There are a few people who can’t even send a one line e-mail without 2 or 3 errors. How embarrassing!
September 15th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Amen ~ There needs to be a complete course for all employees regarding email etiquete; please always remember to put the subject in the subject line and that once you hit send this email is in the records for seven years. Emails reflect the generational down fall of ‘face to face’ communication, writing skills and common courtesy. With all the text messaging and email communication we are loosing our skills in reading peoples facial expressions, stance, and body language. Sorry ~ soapbox “I know”
September 15th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
In some cases, it’s just best to pick up the phone or talk to the person face to face. Remember the “Don’t call me Liz” incident a few months ago? The woman involved went back and forth with the person she was e-mailing, interrogating him on why he called her Liz. This went on for over a dozen e-mails and the conversation didn’t go anywhere. One of the people involved should have nipped it in the bud and picked up the phone to resolve it.
September 15th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
I realize this is an HR Newsletter, but why not title it “4 Dumb E-mail Mistakes to Avoid”. For me HR is only 1 of my jobs. And, people in other departments make the same mistakes, not just HR.
September 15th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
The most encompassing email advice I ever heard was:
“Never put anything in a email that you would not want to explain to your bosses boss or a Judge”
The damage done by a misaddressed email should be minimal in most situations
September 15th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Best advice I ever received, is “Remember the E in email stands for evidence”.
September 15th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
On the “Reply to All” comments.
Yes – be careful. However – the caveat should be – “If you don’t want this read by so-and-so – DON’T PUT IT IN AN EMAIL!”
Seriously – emails are forwarded endlessly and at some point – your words will reach eyes it was not intended for. So – think how that email would look printed on the front page of your newspaper. If you don’t like how that would appear – time for some editing….
September 16th, 2009 at 7:13 am
To Munoz: It’s always a good idea to double check for spelling and grammar. “Make sure what your sending” should be “make sure what you’re sending”. It’s hard to pass yourself off as a professional if you display poor writing skills. No one will take you seriously.
September 16th, 2009 at 7:36 am
Linda, this may come across as aggressive and perhaps hostile, but I promise that I don’t mean it that way. The correct words are etiquette, downfall and losing (not etiquete, down fall and loosing). Aside from the fact that I’m picky on things like that, I do want to say that you have great suggestions and comments. You hit upon one thing that is a pet peeve of mine and that is emails with nothing in the subject line. I save almost all of my emails and blank subject lines are so aggravating.
This is off topic, but have you seen the TV show called “Lie to Me”? The story follows people who are adept in reading body language, facial expressions and verbal cues. It’s very interesting.
September 16th, 2009 at 7:50 am
Since hitting “Send” accidentally is also a common problem (my Send button is next to my Save button), my advice is always write the letter first and then add the email address. If you hit Send before you are ready, your program will prompt you to add a person and it forces you to stop and make sure that this is the intended message.
September 16th, 2009 at 8:36 am
When the writer sends an email, they often don’t let the recipent know what they want them to do. A simple, FYI or point out action steps in bullets make it easier to figure out. Also, response from someone who says “thanks” does NOT need a “your welcome” sent to everyone as a “reply all.”
Having a brief descriptive subject line that highlights the level of sensitivity or urgency is a must. One of the reasons there are too many emails is that people are using them as a “CYA” so that they can show documentation that someone else dropped the ball. A course in email etiquette would help but the real issues are accountability and common sense.
I see too many emails that have inappropriate comments from managers about sensitive employee sitations and I respond by saying, let’s discuss this issue on the phone or in person. Emails are discoverable in discrmination suits.
September 16th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Barb, Linda,
I have been putting my whole message in the subject line if it is short and the person is well known to me. This works especially well for all the Blackberry users I deal with. “Please update the ‘x’ report for August” or “Please call at your convenience” is all I need to make my point.
September 16th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
I think one of the recent major downfalls of e-mailing is the use of Blackberries or other handheld PDAs. People get so used to using them for texting that they forget to put away the texting lingo or get in a hurry and drop all punctuation. It has become annoying to those of us that don’t want to lower our language skills to a bunch of consonants and do not have the mind-reading skills to try to figure out where one sentence is supposed to end and another begins.
If you don’t have the time to respond in full sentences, you probably shouldn’t be texting anyway.
September 16th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Please add the following e-mail mistakes to avoid:
5. Never REPLY TO ALL unless you want everyone who was copied to read your reply.
6. Never fail to use spell check.
September 16th, 2009 at 3:52 pm
Misinterpretation, as suggested in #2, was a serious problem with one of our managers. I was involved in a discussion with a manager at another location and the manager indicated that he could not deal with one of our managers at the home office. I found that rather difficult to believe since I always found that manager to be cooperative and usually jovial. I was given the explanation that his emails are very offensive. After reviewing a few of his messages, I saw the problem. The manager was trying to be humorous with individuals that he has very little personal contact with. His email messages came off as being insulting and/or sarcastic. However, if I had been the recipient of the messages, knowing the manager, I would find them funny.
Okay all you critics out there, don’t call me out on spelling….I was in a hurry.
October 12th, 2009 at 9:18 am
What I find to be the most annoying, is receiving an email with abreviations, no punctuation and not capitalizing, where appropriate. All transmittal of emails should be banned when using a Blackberry!
October 26th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Yeah, I had this experience with my former employer, who tends to email harsh messages even though, she thought were tactful. I tend to assume that she wanted to attack me personally when she said that she wanted me to come and see her. When I entered her office and no personal attacks occurred. I found this annoying!!
However, she’s no longer the boss nowsday. Whew!