• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Right Attitudes

Ideas for Impact

Avoid E-mail Embarrassments [Effective Emails #1]

June 10, 2007 By Nagesh Belludi Leave a Comment

Avoiding E-mail Embarrassments

We have all committed e-mail mistakes. We have seen a personal message sent to one recipient appear on mailing lists, we have sent impulsive e-mails while hot-headed, we have accidentally sent e-mails to the wrong recipients, we have misspelled names of important people, and so forth.

An opinion poll conducted by America Online and Opinion Research Corporation in the year 2005 listed features that e-mail users desire.

  • 43% of the respondents asked for the ability to un-send a message that has not been read
  • 43% of the respondents asked for the ability to track where an e-mail has been forwarded
  • 27% of the respondents asked for a lock on e-mail so it cannot be forwarded
  • 27% of the respondents asked for a pop-up that asks the user to double-check who they are sending the e-mail to
  • 14% of the respondents asked for the ability to un-send a message that has already been read

Guidelines to Avoid E-mail Embarrassments

The technology of e-mails is such that you lose control over the content and distribution of an e-mail message as soon as you send it. Here are a few guidelines to avoid potential embarrassments from e-mails.

  • Guidelines to Avoid E-mail EmbarrassmentsBe judicious to whom you send e-mail to, and who you copy on e-mails. Use the ‘To’ field to list e-mail addresses of people who need to take action. Use the ‘CC’ (carbon copy) field to list e-mail addresses of people who need to be informed. Do not copy e-mails just to keep other people ‘in-the-loop.’
  • ‘Reply to All’ only if you really need your message to be read by everyone who received the original message.
  • Always examine the ‘To’ field before you compose a personal reply to an e-mail you received through a mailing list.
  • Do not forward to any message you received via ‘BCC’ (blind carbon copy.) Reply to the sender only, if necessary.
  • Ask the sender for appropriateness before forwarding any sensitive information you received from him/her.
  • Assume that any message that can be misunderstood will be misunderstood. Proof-read the content before you send out e-mails. Read the message from the recipients’ perspective and examine if you can edit your composition to avoid possible misinterpretations.
  • Never send an e-mail when angry. After composing the e-mail, wait for an hour or two before sending your e-mail. Examine alternate means for relaying your information and closing the communication loop.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Effective Communication

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Popular Now

Anxiety Assertiveness Attitudes Balance Biases Books Coaching Conflict Conversations Creativity Critical Thinking Decision-Making Discipline Emotions Entrepreneurs Etiquette Feedback Getting Along Getting Things Done Goals Great Manager Leadership Leadership Lessons Likeability Mental Models Mentoring Mindfulness Motivation Networking Parables Performance Management Persuasion Philosophy Problem Solving Procrastination Relationships Simple Living Social Skills Stress Thinking Tools Thought Process Time Management Winning on the Job Wisdom Worry

About: Nagesh Belludi [hire] is a St. Petersburg, Florida-based freethinker, investor, and leadership coach. He specializes in helping executives and companies ensure that the overall quality of their decision-making benefits isn’t compromised by a lack of a big-picture understanding.

Get Updates

Signup for emails

Subscribe via RSS

Contact Nagesh Belludi

RECOMMENDED BOOK:
The Art of Stillness

The Art of Stillness: Pico Iyer

Travel writer Pico Iyer’s argues the importance of taking a timeout from busyness. Examples of a privileged few who have found peace through stillness in practice.

Explore

  • Announcements
  • Belief and Spirituality
  • Business Stories
  • Career Development
  • Effective Communication
  • Great Personalities
  • Health and Well-being
  • Ideas and Insights
  • Inspirational Quotations
  • Leadership
  • Leadership Reading
  • Leading Teams
  • Living the Good Life
  • Managing Business Functions
  • Managing People
  • MBA in a Nutshell
  • Mental Models
  • News Analysis
  • Personal Finance
  • Podcasts
  • Project Management
  • Proverbs & Maxims
  • Sharpening Your Skills
  • The Great Innovators
  • Uncategorized

Recently,

  • Be Open to Being Wrong
  • Things Will Look Up Soon
  • Can You Be Terminated for Out-of-Work Conduct?
  • Inspirational Quotations #989
  • The Hidden Influence of Association
  • Managerial Lessons from the Show Business: Summary of Leadership from the Director’s Chair
  • Inspirational Quotations #988

Unless otherwise stated in the individual document, the works above are © Nagesh Belludi under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license. You may quote, copy and share them freely, as long as you link back to RightAttitudes.com, don't make money with them, and don't modify the content. Enjoy!

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.