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Did You Really Mean to hit Send?
Email is dangerous. It can do everything from destroying relationships to ruining careers.
That probably sounds a little over the top, but I’m serious. Here are three reasons why, and what you can do to prevent them.
- Beware the Frantic Forwarder
- Don’t get caught by the Miserable Mis-Addresser
- Watch for the Email Examiner
This is the person who is seemingly compelled to forward your email on to the exact person it shouldn’t go to.
It’s usually not out of malicious intent. In fact, it’s often a case of a long email chain where your indiscretion is way down at the end. The Frantic Forwarder probably didn’t even read that far. But you can be sure that the client you disparaged will read it when it lands in his in-box from the Frantic Forwarder.
I can attest personally to the power of the Frantic Forwarder, having been caught by it back when I was Director of a professional services organization. One of our clients received a forwarded email that originated with me. Since I was rather emphatically stating that I needed to be out of the discussion loop with that client about his technical support problem, he didn’t think too much of what he was reading. Out of context? Absolutely; my being in the middle was slowing things down. Really dumb on my part? You betcha!
The automatic filling-in of email addresses by your email software, or your own mis-typing, has enormous potential to create truly appalling political mistakes.
The Miserable Mis-Addresser also trips up those who write furious or sarcastic email rebuttals, intending to delete without sending, but then (usually on automatic pilot) clicking “send” anyway.
If you’re going to use that technique for venting your frustration, do yourself a favor: clear out all “to,” “cc,” or “bcc” addresses before you type a single word of the message.
If you’re relying on autofill to complete email addresses for you, be very sure that it’s selected the correct person. It has an uncanny ability to pick the exact wrong person for whatever you’re writing. And it’s not always consistent in who it picks, either — have you noticed that? (If not, I wonder who your emails have gone to by mistake?)
Office email is not private. Not only does the law require many organizations to keep all email in case of lawsuits or other legal action, but email can also be scanned by nosy IT people, by HR representatives conducting internal investigations, or by pretty much any senior manager.
Any email you send or receive, whether to a co-worker complaining about your boss or from your best friend planning a wild birthday party, is subject to being read by someone else. Believe it.
My brother is a lawyer who has done a lot of work reviewing email for corporate lawsuits (you’d recognize the companies if he or I could tell you). He’s constantly amazed at the things he reads — most of them having nothing to do with the lawsuit he’s researching.
Avoiding trouble in all three of these situations is simple: don’t send anything by email that you wouldn’t happily print and hang on the lunch-room wall.
So what was your biggest email mistake, and what did you learn from it? Drop me a line and let me know!
“I have no life, just e-mail.” Michael Jantze, 1962 - , American author/artist and creator of “The Norm” daily comic strip
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