Guidelines to Live by When Emailing from Work

You can't live without your work email, but the recipient of your emails may not be the only one reading. Many mistakes are made through inappropriate emails made from work. Below are some general guidelines to live by when emailing from work.

Personal Email

Unfortunately with heightened security settings, many IT departments block employees from accessing other email applications from work. I know that it's tempting to send personal emails from your work email address, but I must strongly advise against this. In most employee handbooks, you will notice a disclosure stating that the company retains full rights to read any emails on their server. This of course, includes that email that you sent to your boyfriend about how much you hate your boss for making you work late last night. You don't want that getting into the wrong hands...like the hands of your boss.

Work Email

The emails you send to co-workers can be just as dangerous. A lot of gossiping is done electronically now and the IT department is hip to the game. Most companies will not tolerate using their email server as the rumor mill and can sometimes initiate harsh consequences. Be very weary of yucking it up with Carol from HR about how hideous Diane's new hair color is and that you heard her husband was cheating on her with the nanny. These conversations are deadly; however, if you cannot control yourself, DELETE the email you sent to her completely. Don't forget to include any replies from her as they contain the original email.

Context

One of the hardest lessons to learn is to say what you mean, and mean what you say. It's really difficult do convey emotion and context through email, so be careful when addressing issues electronically. Emails have stirred up controversy and caused havoc on those with the best intentions, simply because their jokes or sarcasm are taken literally. Be sure you state your opinion or case concisely. You don't need to waste your time explaining what you really meant.

Replies

Always pay attention to what other recipients the email was sent to, especially before replying. What's meant for your co-worker's eyes is sometimes not meant for your boss's, whose name is attached to the email to be sent out. I've already advised against electronic gossip, but if you simply must, make sure you're sending it to the right people.

Fun Forwards

Limit the amount of junk email your friends and co-workers send you at work. Although it's cute to get the "Send to 5 beautiful ladies" email, it's also been sent to oodles of people before you and after who will now have your email address. These emails are sometimes charming but mostly cause problems. Whether you're aggravating IT with taking up server space or driving yourself crazy over whether or not to send the email out to 20 friends in the next 5 minutes or your boyfriend will call and break up with you and your dog will die, and you'll stub your toe, and live a lonely and crippled life.

Forwards from friends and other mass emails are perfect breeding grounds for viruses. If you didn't know before now, NEVER open an attachment from someone you don't know. You'll look pretty silly when IT comes down to resurrect your computer from a Trojan virus nightmare and they find out it's all because of your fuzzy little friends forward.

No matter what you're writing or who you're writing to, it all comes down to productivity. Your employer needs to know you're working, which is why they have these rules in place in almost every company. These email addresses are not for personal use and you should heed their warning or deal with the consequences. They are watching.