E-mail – Beware! - Once You Press Send - You Can’t Amend!

The content of an email will tell the recipient a great deal about the individual who sent it, the organisation they work for and also act as barometer for measuring competence and professionalism of both. Therefore a swiftly drafted email with spelling mistakes, other grammatical errors and poorly worded sentences will undoubtedly not inspire a Client to have confidence in other services you may be providing for them.



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How many times have you pressed ‘send’ on an email, then immediately had that sinking feeling when you realise that you have included something that is incorrect or of a sensitive nature or you have send it to someone you shouldn’t?  In the professional world this can often lead to embarrassing situations, damage to reputations, loss of work, or ultimately legal action. Nowadays many of us both use and rely upon email as the main form of correspondence in our professional lives.  This is because it is instant.  Technology means that we no longer have to hand write things, proof read and amend, put them in an envelope, add a stamp and post, and then wait a day or two for it to be delivered to our recipient.  All we need to do now is type a new email as quickly as we can or reply to an e-mail we receive, press send and job done!  Sounds easy and indeed it is easy, however this high speed approach also comes with a high element of risk.

Whilst working in professional practice I can remember numerous occasions when I was under pressure to meet deadlines or respond to clients or to deal with staff related issues. I also remember feeling that there was just not enough hours in the day to meet all of these demands.  It was always at these very moments that a little message would flash up in the bottom right hand corner of my screen and I would catch a brief glimpse of the sender and the first line of a new email before it would fade away.  I would sometimes know, just by either the sender or the short text that the content was not going to be good, so then I had the dilemma of either opening it immediately, or ignoring it until I had finished dealing with the latest crisis!  Many of you will know that the second you open an email, your plans for the day can change in an instant.  Just a few moments ago, what you considered as a priority or urgent suddenly seems less so because the email you have just opened presents you with a whole new situation or set of circumstances that must be dealt with now!  This really sums up how we often become slaves to email, and how we also let email dictate our lives, rather than use it in a more appropriate and positive way.

Source: Google Images

As we are considering correspondence in the professional world, the content of an email received will tell the recipient a great deal about the individual who sent it, the organisation they work for and also act as barometer for measuring competence and professionalism of both.  Therefore a swiftly drafted email with spelling mistakes, other grammatical errors and poorly worded sentences will undoubtedly not inspire a Client to have confidence in other services you may be providing for them. Robust quality assurance of all communication that leaves the office is a fundamental part for most successful organisations.  Letter, drawings and most hard copy communications are much easier to control and these procedures usually require hard copy correspondence to be ‘signed off’ or at least checked by a more senior member of staff, before they leave the office.  Email is much harder to control, as all staff members will have an individual account and will be free to receive and send emails as often as they want.  In most cases there will be no quality assurance procedure for this form of communication and this could prove to be an ‘Achilles heel’ if incorrect advice or information is given via email.  
  

Although most organisations will have an email policy, I wonder if questioned, how many of their staff will have read the policy, or indeed how many will know that one existed?  Typical wording in an email policy will state: ‘It is strictly prohibited to send or forward emails containing libellous, defamatory, offensive, racist or obscene remarks’, the wording generally covers the content of an email, but does not consider the quality.  So what can an organisation do to monitor and control the quality of an email before it leaves the office?  Well, this is obviously not easy, however if staff are ‘educated’ to adopt a number of good practices when drafting emails then quality is likely to improve and problems are likely to reduce.  Below I offer a few suggestions which may help: 

Never respond to an emotive email immediately – Sometimes it is very tempting to response to an aggressive or emotive email instantly, and ‘give it to them with both barrels’. This however is a very dangerous approach and one on reflection in the cold light of day you may regret.  Always be professional! Take a few moments to calm yourself down and then respond appropriately. 

Write well-structured emails and use short, descriptive subjects  - Emails should not be lengthy.  If the email starts to grow as you are writing it, then consider whether a letter may be a better option, one that you can attach to an email if urgent.  This again is about taking a professional approach in everything you do. 

Always check your grammar and use a spell checker before you send out an email - It is so important to check grammar and spelling because a simple mistake can change the tone or indeed the content of an email. Also, spelling mistakes are lazy and unnecessary and leave a lasting negative impression. Ask yourself what you think about someone who has sent you an email with poor grammar and spelling mistakes all over it.  Always take the time to read through your email before you press send. 

Attachments – Make sure you do not send unnecessary or the wrong attachments with you email.  How many times have you received an email, quickly followed by another email stating ‘here is the attachment’? For certain documents you may want to consider converting to PDF format before attaching them to your email.  This will ensure that there is no doubt about the content of the attachment and removes the opportunity for amendments to be made by the recipient.



Ensure that the email is sent to the correct recipients - The content of some emails may be private and confidential or of a sensitive nature.  In these instances perhaps email is not the most appropriate form of communication. If however email is used it is imperative that it is sent to the correct recipients.  When someone is busy or even stressed, it is very easy to not pay attention to who the email is being sent too and this can cause serious problems..  Always take the time to review the content of the email including who it is being sent too.



Source: Google Images



In the hectic world that we live in we are expected to communicate/respond instantly. It is clear that email is an important and effective way of communicating in the professional world, however it does have its risks, which all start from the moment an email is drafted.  This is worth thinking about because you can amend a draft email as many times as you want, but the moment you press send, you lose the opportunity to amend!

  

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