8 Habits of Highly Ineffective Emailing
My biggest peeve is #3
My biggest peeve is #3
Send an Email that’s Completely Unnecessary - These are probably my biggest pet peeve of all. Emails that consist of reciprocal greetings or acknowledgments that are just a waste of server space. For example, Ted emails me asking if I can send him the latest office phone list. I send it to him and 10 seconds later I get an email that contains nothing but “Thanks!”. While I understand he’s just being polite, that’s another message I have to read. (I know this may come off as somewhat prick-ish, but you wouldn’t believe the amount of email I get like this). Obviously, If Carl from Facilities donates the bone marrow that helps you beat that pesky cancer, a “thank you” is probably in order - in addition to some flowers or free yard work. Otherwise, just let me get back to work.Though I confess that I've been guilty of #6:
Walking Over to the Recipient 10 Minutes After Sending the Message to Make Sure They Got It - I realize there are certain people who still don’t fully trust “technology” as a whole. They don’t like buying things online, they think every time Windows hiccups it’s because a hacker has taken over their computer and is now using their credit card to finance a trip to Tanzania. That’s all fine, but folks - I implore you - please have some faith in the email system at work. I realize that occasionally emails get lost, but that’s not reason to personally verify the delivery of each and every message you send.(Once again, a post I've saved up for a few days, copied and pasted from a Google Reader/Notebook thing!)
And, on a separate but related note, coming over to ask if I got your email because it’s very important doesn’t work well, either. The beauty of email is that it’s asynchronous. You can send me a message and I’ll read it when I have time, not necessarily the moment you send it. Just let me do my thing and I’ll read your message the very next chance I get, cross my heart. Oh, and if it’s an actual emergency - please, by all means, run over to my desk - but feel free to skip the email.
