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03.11

Six E-mail Mistakes That Can Cook Your Career

By Elizabeth Lions

In today's world of electronic bits and bytes, we rely heavily on e-mail as a primary form of communication. In some dispersed organizations, e-mail is the only way co-workers connect. And it doesn't just apply to organizations with employees spread out across the country or even the globe — just think of how many times you’ve gotten an e-mail from a co-worker sitting 15 feet away from you in the same office.

While a convenient tool, careless use of e-mail can wreak havoc in the workplace — because the contents of e-mail can be used in a court of law, if necessary. E-mail creates a digital document and record, and as benign as it may seem, reckless use of the medium could cost you your job.

The more e-mails we send, the easier it is to become overly confident in our mastery of the tool... and to make mistakes. Following are six common e-mail blunders that could cook your career:

1. Hitting the send button too quickly
   Cautious writers think their e-mails through, making sure that tone is even and the intended message is clear. Consider each word carefully and always make sure your e-mails are addressed to the correct recipients. You wouldn’t want your boss getting an e-mail meant for a subordinate or colleague — especially if your boss is mentioned in an unflattering light... which brings up another point: don't disparage your colleagues in e-mail to another c0-worker. You never know who might be monitoring your e-mail, and, despite your confidence in your office friendships, you never know who your confidant my share it with, intentionally or inadvertently.

2. Having job search e-mails sent to your work address
   There is a small chance that someone at work is actually monitoring your e-mail, so the last thing you want is your job search ads or e-mails to be lumped in with your work e-mail. The same goes for when you leave a company. Don’t let your boss be privy to anything in your inbox on your way out the door. Disable any daily news briefs or advertisements that you have set up to come at your work address. Better to just have those sent to your personal e-mail instead.

3. Replying to all, when you didn’t want to
   This tip is for those with quick fingers on the keyboard. I distinctly remember an employer giving specific feedback to an employee, only to have the sensitive information blasted to the entire team. There is nothing quite like your performance review blasted out to your co-workers.

4. Omitting salutations
   The ease of using e-mail and the sheer volume of the amount of e-mails we send and receive seems to have squeezed the formality out of the mode of communication. Perhaps in response to time constraints, or perhaps out of ignorance, many of us have ceased to use any kind of salutations in our online communications. I have been guilty of this and have received constructive criticism for the offense. My intention was to be responsive and timely, but instead the perception was that I was too informal, possibly disrespectful. Some people find simple salutations such as "Hello” sufficient; too often we shoot our e-mails off into cyberspace without any of the pleasantries that were de rigueur in written letters. The standard protocol is the person’s name followed by a colon or comma. Take the few extra seconds required to address the reader.

5. Avoid e-mailing when you are emotional
   Caustic e-mails sent to your least favorite co-workers have a way of growing legs. As a rule, don’t e-mail when you're angry. It’s better to keep your fingers off the keyboard than to craft something damaging. While the note might feel good to write, it might not be good for your career to send it.

6. Consider the reader at all times
   For Gen Y readers, let me suggest that you don’t start e-mail with "Hey." Consider the person to whom you are sending, his or her stature and position within the company. Your intention may be to come off as conversational, but it could be perceived as disrespectful. In this world of incessant texting and tweeting, it’s easy to forget that there are real people reading your words and formulating their impressions of you. Remembering that can avoid a lot of misconceptions along the way.

If all else fails, be old fashioned. Pretend its 1985 and talk to people. While it sounds a bit archaic in 2011, the best piece of advice sometimes is to be heard, and let others interpret your intentions through your voice, rather than through a less personal e-mail. You’d be amazed at how a quick five-minute phone call to the boss — instead of an e-mail — might gain you the rapport that gets you a promotion.

Elizabeth Lions is an author and career coach, specializing in working with engineers. Her book Recession Proof Yourself! can be found at www.elizabethlions.com

Comments may be submitted to todaysengineer@ieee.org.