However, we need to rethink our risk analysis here. Yes, you probably won’t get caught - but if you do, you could get sacked and even humiliated on a global scale, like Swire or Sony’s Amy Pascal. What is more, long-forgotten emails from years ago can come back to haunt us. So, with this in mind what should you never commit to a medium that is permanent, often impossible to delete and can be flashed around the world in seconds?
First, says, Monica Seeley, author of Brilliant Email , “Never, ever discuss your personal life on company email.” She suggests that you also resist criticising colleagues and the competition and be very wary about sending out confidential information: “You might know who you’re sending it to, but you don’t know they’re forwarding it to.”
In fact, she says, if you’re going to do anything that may not be approved of, from applying for new jobs to sleeping with colleagues, you should use private Gmail or a similar service to discuss it. This won’t be a total guarantee of safety, but it will be far better than your work email. If you’re really worried, use your own email account and your own device, such a mobile you pay the bill for. As for edgy jokes (which, for example, could be misconstrued as sexist) don’t make them on email, full stop. Remember that while it’s very easy to deny or reframe a comment you made in a pub, if it’s on an email, you leave the possibility that others will interpret its “real” meaning for you.
It’s not just topics that could land you in hot water, though. You should also avoid anything that feels like shirking responsibility. “If it involves conflict, negative feedback or significant change, it should be done face to face,” says Parker. The classic example is sacking people via email - you cannot fail to look like a heartless bastard. But even with lesser matters, by speaking to people you avoid the problem of “tone” where recipients read emails in a different voice to the one you heard in your head when you wrote them – and then take offence or get the wrong end of the stick.
There’s also a legal and quasi-legal side to things. If someone sends you an email to say you’ve let them down or failed to deliver, you should not reply with an immediate mea culpa, says Ms Seeley, even if it feels like the right thing to do. “Once there’s a written record of you saying it was my fault, your negotiating position is much weaker,” she explains. If a speedy reply is needed, respond with something like, “Let me look into this and get back to you.”
Below the serious stuff, there are plenty of areas where email is not the best tool. Group discussions result in impossible-to-follow threads hundreds of emails long and are better done using internal social media platforms. Emails sent to the entire company saying you have a croquet set which is free to a good home will make colleagues think you’re a mad person at a jumble sale; use real or virtual bulletin boards instead. And don’t cc people in unnecessarily (it nearly always is unnecessary) as this causes emails to multiply like so many electronic rabbits.
There’s etiquette too. You shouldn’t really email someone you can see. Go and talk to them instead – you’ll have a far better, richer interaction talking face-to-face. Similarly, says Ms Seeley, if you’re going thank people, it means much less if you do it electronically: “You get these endless trivial thank-yous. If you really mean it, send them a box of chocolates or something.”
Finally, says Parker, just because there’s a lot you should leave out doesn’t mean there aren’t some things you should put in. “There’s something said for making the effort to write a really good email. If it’s important, work on the tone and make it sound like you care. Give it a bit of status and ceremony. Treat it more like a letter.”
Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1b3xiI1
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