Stop the Madness: How to Deal with Junk Email at Work

About a year ago, I encountered an interesting situation: a client of mine started sending me email. A lot of email. And not just any email - this was complete junk. You know the stuff: "Forward to 5 friends or you'll have bad luck for a year." I put up with it because, as I said, she was a client. I laughed it off, even though I thought it was strange for her to forward stuff like that to me. She sent everything - the cute kitty cat pictures, the must see YouTube video, even the super-sappy ‘thank you for being a friend' stuff. It was definitely strange behavior for a client. Then, one day, she sent something that was over-the-top and just really inappropriate for my work email account. I had no choice but to confront the situation.

Now, I've written about email etiquette here on OfficeArrow before, but this is something I haven't really discussed before. There is a fine line when it comes to this kind of email junk. Let me acknowledge that, for some of you, this might not be considered "junk." You may treasure those kitty cat pictures. You may truly worry that failing to forward these things to five friends will really result in years of bad luck. It doesn't matter. There are still rules that everyone should follow when it comes to these kinds of emails.

First and foremost, if you receive them, don't forward them on to co-workers, clients, or business associates. There is just no reason to. You have no idea how busy they are and how full their inbox gets. It can be a distraction to receive non-business related email and, depending on the topic of the email, some people may even take offense to it. If you send a lot of this kind of thing, people may start to ignore your emails altogether. Then, when you have something important to say, it could easily go unnoticed.

I know what some of you are going to say: "But Nicole and I are friends! Sure, she's my superior, but she'll find this email funny. I'm sure of it!"

Ok. Whatever you say. But consider yourself warned. You're taking a risk every time you forward something non-work related to anyone you work for or with. If that's a risk your willing to take, go for it.

Let's look at the other side of the coin. If you find yourself in the position I was in a while ago, receiving a ton of junk email from one person in particular, how do you address it? If it's a friend, the situation is easily handled. Pick up the phone and tell them to cut it out. Most of your friends probably don't distinguish between your personal and office email addresses. Ask them to be careful about which one they are using for this sort of thing. Once you've told them, it likely won't be an issue again.

If a client or business associate is sending you a ton of junk mail, tread lightly. Consider the stuff they are sending. Is it offensive? Or is it just annoying? Annoying can be handled with a polite conversation or email response: "Hi there. Thanks for thinking of me and sharing this stuff but you know, my inbox is over flowing. I don't want important messages from you and other clients to get lost. I hope you understand!" Typically, that will be enough to take care of the situation.

If a client or business associate is sending offensive material, you'll want to get others involved. This sort of thing can verge on harassment so don't just turn your head the other way. Address it directly with the help of a superior if possible. Ultimately, you and your company don't want to do business with someone who is being offensive.

If your co-worker is the one sending the email, it's again important to determine if it's annoying or offensive. Annoying can be handled in the same way as above - a polite, easy conversation that explains your situation. Offensive should be handled by your Human Resources representative. Again, do not ignore this kind of behavior.

In my situation, I sent a very polite email asking my client to avoid forwarding non-business related email to my work account. Of course, I didn't provide my personal account as an alternative so that took care of it. She was incredibly apologetic and acknowledged that she often gets a little overzealous when it comes to the "forward" button.