Do You Know Why Email is Evil and What You Should Do Instead?

What Does the “e” Stand For?  I’ve written before about how the “e” in email stands for “evidence” instead of electronic and why you shouldn’t hit “send” until you are sure that you would want the Russians, your boss or a judge reading your email.

The Problem That Will Not End:  Even though I have nagged about this, many of you are still sending out emails that are embarrassing and sometimes, just plain evil.

What’s the Big Deal?  Many of the conflicts I have tried to resolve involve someone emailing a message that they shouldn’t have. For example, I was once asked to resolve an issue between a group of developers who were so conflicted, they couldn’t get the product out the door. When I met with them, I learned that they were emailing each other comments during our session, such as “Dog-breath, that’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard anyone say.”

In another mess, a woman accused her boss of harassment. It wasn’t harassment, but she didn’t know what else to call it. He never spoke to her, he just emailed her assignments and even did her performance review on email, even though her office was right next door.

In a third situation, an executive I worked with accidentally hit “send” to the wrong person. He meant to send it to a colleague, asking for help, but instead, routed it to the person about whom he’d just made withering comments. You can imagine how that went down.

What Should You Do?  

1)  Reserve email for facts.  Reserve email for accurate information. If you are in a conflict, walk down the hall or pick up the phone. Don’t hide behind your keyboard. If you can’t – or won’t – say it to someone’s face, leave the communication alone until you can.

2)  Recognize that most of communication is not just words.  Communication experts cite different numbers, but most believe that around 77% of communication is based on tone and body language. If I write a flip comment in an email, you may think that I’m seriously attacking you.

3)  Train your people on email etiquette.  Make sure that everyone on your team understands that email can be evil, create a permanent and unflattering record, and seriously damage relationships. Enforce your rules about waiting before they hit send.

What Do You Think?