Control That Email!

: Business Skills by Justin Brusino ASTD 2007 (16 pages) Citation ISBN:9781562864910 Email is the language of business today. Let this concise booklet show you how to quickly learn about email business etiquette, increase your email efficiency, deal with email interruptions, and how to avoid legal woes that stem from email.

Contents
Manage Your Email.................................................................................................................................... 1 Overview .................................................................................................................................................. 1 Develop Email Etiquette ......................................................................................................................... 2 Increase Your Efficiency ............................................................................................................................ 8 Get Proactive....................................................................................................................................... 10 Use Templates..................................................................................................................................... 12 Get Organized ..................................................................................................................................... 13 Deal with Interruptions ........................................................................................................................... 13 Email Addiction ................................................................................................................................... 14 Stay Legal .............................................................................................................................................. 16 References & Resources ............................................................................................................................. 17 Articles .................................................................................................................................................... 17

Manage Your Email

Overview

Nearly every person in the business world uses email on a regular basis. But training courses on how to use email properly are uncommon. Many businesses don't instruct their employees in approved email practices, and businesses that do have a set of email guidelines often don't stress their importance. Email has become the most popular mode of communication in business, and therefore has become a source of stress for many. What is supposed to be a time-and money-saving tool has become a source of frustration and anxiety. Every day we are bombarded with emails that leave us scratching our heads. Why was I sent this? Do I need to know that? What action am I supposed to take? Now, with the popularity of email-enabled mobile devices the frustrations follow us home. According to Cohesive Knowledge Solutions, a Connecticut-based company specializing in email management, employees now spend more than 40 percent of their workday on emailand most consider more than a third of that time a waste. Wasted time equals wasted money. If your company has all of its employees spending a third of their time on email, how much is being lost in profits and productivity? Regaining control of email is not an impossible task, but it requires some effort and changes in behavior. This Infoline will help you manage your email more effectively and efficiently. You will learn how to

develop email etiquette increase your email efficiency deal with email interruptions avoid legal trouble stemming from email.

Use this information to keep your business communication from becoming a headache.

Develop Email Etiquette

As the speed of business increases, so does the speed with which we communicate. The number of emails an employee sends and receives each day is growing every year. Email is a form of casual communication. It takes little effort to type up a quick question or response and hit "Send." Because of this, it is easy to get sloppy and forget common courtesies. For example, you wouldn't call a co-worker for a favor and neglect to say "hello," and you shouldn't begin your email without a greeting either. Email communications should remain as professional and courteous as other forms of communication. Use the following list of rules, adapted in part from http://www.emailreplies.com, to help you compose better emails.

Be concise

Do not make an email longer than it needs to be. Reading an email on a computer screen is harder than reading a printed communication, and a long email can be discouraging. Use line breaks to increase white space and to separate information: break important information into chunks, or use bulleted lists. Your email will be easier to read, and your main points will come across more clearly.

Answer all questions An email reply must answer all questions, and anticipate further questions. If you do not answer all the questions in the original email, you will only receive more emails asking for answers. This will lead to frustration for both you and the sender. When possible, preempt any other questions the sender might have. Doing this will cut down on the amount of email you receive, and will likely impress the sender with your foresight.

Use the "Out of Office Assistant" It's always a good idea to turn on your "Out of Office Assistant" when you are out of the office training, at a conference, or on vacation. Inform the senders what days you will be gone, whether or not you will have email access, and who else can be contacted for needed information. Assure the senders that you will respond to their email as soon as you can.

Use proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation When you receive an email with typos, how does that make you view the sender? Sloppy? Lazy? Ignorant? Your emails are being viewed with the same scrutiny. Nothing will make you and your company look more unprofessional than email littered with misspelled words and bad grammar. Not only will you look bad, your message may be unclear and cause a miscommunication.

Answer swiftly Customers send an email because they wish to receive a quick response. Therefore, each email should be replied to within 24 hours, and preferably within the same working day. You should treat your co-workers' emails with the same consideration as those of your customers. If the message involves a complicated response, answer promptly saying that you received their email and will get back to them. This way, senders won't think that you are ignoring them.

Get to the point Although it is important to be courteous and include a greeting at the beginning of your email, don't overdo it. Your recipient will be more pleased with a clear, concise message than a list of pleasantries. Keep the small talk to a minimum or include it at the end of the message.

Do not attach unnecessary files Sending large attachments can annoy your recipients or cause problems to their email system. Try to compress attachments and send only necessary files. Moreover, you need to have a good virus scanner in place so that you do not send viruses to your customers or co-workers.

Use proper structure and layout Because reading from the screen is more difficult than reading from paper, structure and layout are very important for emails. When making points, number them or use bullets to mark each point as a separate entity.

Create a signature Your company may or may not require its employees to create a signature that will appear at the bottom of their emails. If it's not required, you should still create one. Include your name, title, and contact information. You might also want to include the company logo, company slogan, and a link to the company website.

Use cc: sparingly Use the cc: (courtesy-copy or carbon-copy) field only if the recipients know why they are receiving a copy of the message. The cc: field can be confusing because the recipient might not know what action to take regarding the message. In general, do not include the person in the cc: field unless you have a specific reason for wanting this person to see your response. Also, including people in the cc: field too often can clog up their inbox and irritate them.

Be careful with bcc: Many companies view using the bcc: (blind carboncopy) field as inappropriate because it hides the recipients' identities. If it is necessary for someone to be included in the message, use the cc: line. Another option is to forward the message to the person separately.

Do not overuse the "high priority" option If you overuse the "high priority" option, it will lose its function when you really need it. Even if an email is highly important, your message will come across as slightly aggressive if you flag it as such.

Do not write in CAPITALS WRITING IN CAPITALS MAKES IT SEEM LIKE YOU ARE SHOUTING. This can be annoying and can even cause a misunderstanding and lead to an unfavorable response.

The same rule applies to bolding or underlining text, which can also be seen as aggressive.

Read email before you send it A lot of people don't bother to read an email before they send it out, as can be seen from the abundance of spelling and grammatical mistakes found in emails. Using spell check is a good option, but spell check won't find the correctly spelled word in the wrong place. Also, reading your emails through the eyes of the recipient will help you send a more effective message and avoid misunderstandings.

Do not overuse "Reply to All" More people are guilty of this than they would like to admit. Using "Reply to All" often sends messages to people who do not need to be included. This results in unneeded messages for the recipient. Use "Reply to All" only if you really need your message to be seen by each person who received the original.

Do not send emails when angry If you are having problems with another co-worker, email can be a tempting way to express your displeasure. Resist this urge. You don't want a record of a personal feud with a co-worker. Take a moment to cool off, then, if you still feel the need to express yourself, talk to the person face-to-face or over the telephone.

Take care with email formats Be aware that when you send an email in Rich Text or HTML format, the sender might be able to receive only Plain Text emails. If this is the case, the recipient will receive your message as a .TXT attachment.

Do not forward chain letters Chain letters are hoaxes. Bill Gates will not send you five dollars for each person you forward a chain letter to. Delete these letters as soon as you receive them.

Do not request delivery and read receipts These will typically annoy your recipients before they even read the message. It also makes it seem like you are checking up on them. If you want to know if an email was received, it is better to ask recipients to reply that they received your message.

Do not ask to recall a message

Most times the message has already been received and read. Instead, it is better to send another email admitting that you made a mistake. You will look more honest and professional than you would if you attempted to recall a message.

Use active instead of passive voice Use the active voice of a verb whenever possible. For instance, "We will process your order today" sounds better than "Your order will be processed today." The first sounds more personal, whereas the latter sounds unnecessarily formal.

Avoid long sentences Keep your sentences to a maximum of 1520 words. Email is meant to be a quick medium and requires a different kind of writing than actual letters. Also, take care not to send emails that are too long. If a person receives an email that looks like a dissertation, chances are that he or she will not even attempt to read it. A good rule of thumb is to keep your email within the length of a computer screen.

Do not send offensive messages Don't send any emails with any joke or remark that could be taken as sexist, racist, libelous, or offensive. Even if you intend to send the email to one person, it could end up in the hands of dozens and will most likely offend someone. A single remark could mean a lot of trouble for you and your company.

Curb the "thank-yous" This may sound rude, but more often than not "thank-you" emails do nothing but waste the recipient's time. These emails are appropriate only when someone really goes out the way to help you. If you are requesting information from someone or asking for something minor, thank the person in advance. ePolicy Do's and Don'ts

An email policy is a list of guidelines that designates appropriate and inappropriate use of company email, the Internet, and software. Use this list of do's and don'ts, courtesy of Nancy Flynn, executive director of The ePolicy Institute, as a guide when creating or revising your company's email policy. DO's

Establish comprehensive, written ePolicies that address employee use of email, the Internet, and software. Educate employees about software piracy. Ensure compliance with all software licenses.

Communicate the fact that the organization's email and Internet systems are to be used strictly as business communication tools. But don't stop there. Provide clear guidance on what is, and is not, considered appropriate electronic business communication. Bear in mind that some personal use of your organization's email system may be warranted. For employees who leave the house before dawn and don't return until well past dark, email may be the most efficient and effective way to stay in touch with family members. For the sake of employee morale and retention, savvy employers generally are willing to accommodate their employees' need to check in electronically with children and spouses. Let your employees know where you stand on this issue, and how much personal use (if any) is acceptable. Incorporate an overview of your organization's discrimination and sexual harassment policies in your email policy. Because of the relaxed, informal nature of email, some employees will put in writing comments they never would say aloud. Make sure employees understand that regardless of how it is transmitted, an inappropriate comment is an inappropriate comment. And all it takes is one inappropriate comment to land you on the wrong side of an expensive, protracted lawsuit. Review your written ePolicies with every employee. New hires and long-time employees, managers and supervisors, full-time professionals and part-time staff, telecommuters and temporary employees, independent contractors and freelancerseveryone should be informed of your email, Internet, and software usage policies. Have all employees sign and date copies of each policy to confirm they have read and understood each document. Incorporate your written ePolicies into your organization's employee handbook and newhire orientation materials. Have the organization's human resources (HR) director review ePolicies with every new employee. Address ownership issues and privacy expectations. Let employees know that the contents of the email system belong to the organization, not the individual user. If management monitors and reads employee email, say so. Make sure employees understand that their email can, and will, be read at any time without notice to or permission of the employee. If there is any chance you may want to monitor employees' home computers, make that clear as well. Support your email and Internet policies with eWriting and cyberlanguage policies designed to reduce risks by controlling content. Establish netiquette policies for email senders and receivers, managers, and staff. Implement a risk management policy that incorporates retention and deletion policies, password policies, and monitoring and filtering software. Establish a computer security policy. Put into place procedures and tools designed to keep unscrupulous hackers and internal saboteurs out of your system. Install software to monitor and filter email and Internet use. Purchase cyberinsurance policies to help mitigate electronic risk. Develop an eCrisis communication policy for dealing with the media and public should an eDisaster occur.

DON'TS

Rely solely on email to communicate your ePolicies. Require each employee to read, sign, and date a hard copy of each policy. Do use email messages, along with the

company's intranet system, to remind employees of your policies and management's commitment to enforcing them. Expect employees to train themselves. Educate employees about the what's, why's, and how's of your ePolicies. Make employees aware of their eRisks, eRights, eResponsibilities, and the repercussions they will face for violating email, Internet, and software usage policies. Create separate policies for management. Establish corporate email, Internet, and software policies, and insist that officers, managers, supervisors, and staff all adhere to them. A supervisor who turns a blind eye to an employee's online gambling addiction, a manager who winks at software piracy, a board member who sends risqu jokes to senior executivesall are putting the organization at risk. Forget your international associates. If you do business or operate facilities abroad, incorporate a discussion about effective international eCommunication in your email policy. Assign one individual the responsibility of single-handedly enforcing your organization's ePolicies. Make all managers and supervisors aware of the important role they play when it comes to monitoring employee behavior. Assign specific monitoring and enforcement roles to HR and information management professionals. Allow employees to dismiss the organization's ePolicies as insignificant or unenforceable. Make sure employees understand that their computer activity will be monitored. Stress the fact that ePolicy violators will face disciplinary action that may include termination. Let employees know you mean business by enforcing your ePolicies consistently.

Think about including a few of these basic etiquette rules in your organizations email policya written document that states approved email uses, best practices, legal concerns, and other issues. For more information on developing or modifying your policy, see the sidebar ePolicy Do's and Don'ts. It's also important to remember to fill in your subject line. A blank subject line can cause you to be viewed as rude or careless. For more information, see the sidebar Effective Subject Lines.

Increase Your Efficiency

If you are like most of us, you send and receive a lot of messages in a given workday. Chances are you would like to reduce that number. This might seem impossible, considering workers are becoming more and more reliant on email each year, but it can be done. Here are some questions to consider when thinking about efficiency:

How many emails do I send each day? How many emails do I receive each day? How many hours do I spend each day reading and responding to email? Is my time reading and composing emails well spent?

When was the last time my inbox was at zero?

It makes sense to assume that if you are sending a high volume of emails every day, you are in turn, receiving a high volume of emails. Logic dictates that an easy way to reduce the volume of emails you receive is to send fewer emails yourself. Take a moment to look at the messages in your "Sent Items" box. Ask yourself these questions:

To whom was this message sent? Was this person a necessary recipient? Was this message complete? If a response, did I answer every question? Did I anticipate any future questions? Did I give the recipient specific instructions and actions to take? Or was my message vague or confusing? Was email the most appropriate way to deliver this message? Or would this message have been better understood face-to-face or over the telephone?
Effective Subject Lines

Many people make the mistake of ignoring the subject line or using a generic subject. These people fail to realize that the subject line is often the most important part of an email. A successful subject line will ensure your message is read and gets the attention it needs. Remember that the subject line is for the recipient, so it needs to makes sense to the recipient. The subject line should act as a headline and prepare the recipient for your message. Instead of "Requesting Information," try "Requesting Information about Training XYZ." The more specific, the better. Avoid these vague subject lines:

Need Help! FYI Urgent! Requesting Assistance Thank You.

This guidance becomes even more important regarding co-workers to whom you send messages on a regular basis. A specific subject line will allow the recipient to find your particular message more easily if it needs to be recalled. If you find yourself replying back and forth with another person on the same message, often the subject of your message will change. Take the time to change your subject line. This way if you need to find the information later, you won't have to search through 20 messages with the same subject.

Sending unnecessary messages to your co-workers gives the impression that you are careless, ignorant, or indecisive. It also tells others that it is acceptable to send or copy you on unnecessary messages. Before you send an email, make certain that you address every issue that you intended to. If you are answering someone's questions, make sure you answer clearly. It's also a good idea to go beyond the question and cover any other issues that could likely arise. Failing to address an issue will only mean another email for your inbox. When you are emailing someone an actionable item, make sure the recipient knows what that action is. Follow these rules:

Do not use vague or misleading language. Do not hide the request in a paragraph of explanation. Use bullets to highlight key points. Tell the person what you are asking them to do in clear, precise language. Leave no room for misinterpretation.

Email is not always the most appropriate way to communicate information. Email is easily misunderstood, and miscommunication can result in hurt feelings or wasted time. If you need to deliver a personal, sensitive, or complicated message, think about setting up a meeting, going to that person's office, or picking up the telephone. See the sidebar Email Body Language for more information. The key is to start asking yourself these questions before you hit "Send." Receiving fewer messages starts with you; by creating less email for other people you will create less email for yourself. Another constant drain on our time is spam. Spam is an unsolicited, bulk email messagethe junk mail of email. To learn more about spam and how to receive less of it, see the sidebar Manage Spam.
Get Proactive

To really get people to send you less email, you have to be proactive. Ask yourself these questions:

Who sends me the most emails per day? Who sends me the most low-impact messages, that is, unnecessary FYIs and "thankyous." Am I receiving clear, complete messages?

You can probably target a handful of people in the office who are responsible for sending you the bulk of your daily emails. Review a few of their messages with the same scrutiny that you view your own. Look for each person's main flaw, such as including you on unnecessary cc: messages, overusing "Reply to All," or sending vague messages.

The next step is to approach the people who are sending you poor messages and coach them on better practices. If someone is sending you a lot of unneeded FYIs, wait for the person to do so, then go and speak to the person face-to-face. Let the sender know that although you appreciate being informed he or she should send you an FYI only if there is a specific, definable reason you would need that information. Keep a positive attitude and do not make the sender feel as if you are attacking his or her quality of work. The key is communication. By clarifying what type of information you do not wish to receive, you will drastically cut down your number of incoming messages.
Email Body Language

Email is a frictionless form of communication. It doesn't allow for the lively back-and-forth communication that a face-to-face or even telephone conversation does. Since email doesn't permit body language or voice inflection, you must choose your words carefully. A harmless, sarcastic comment might end up sounding arrogant or pushy. Read your email carefully, and if a comment has even a slight chance of being misinterpreted, take it out or find another way to say it. When writing an email, use words that are

friendly courteous respectful.

Avoid words that could be construed as

curt demanding rude.

It's also important to personalize your emails. This becomes a problem when sending a quick reply, but in general you should always include a greeting and a salutation. If you don't, your message might be seen as selfish and demanding.

Manage Spam

You've no doubt encountered emails trying to get you to refinance your mortgage, lower your debt, or buy discounted prescription medication. At it's most benign, spam is a minor annoyance and a waste of time; at it's worst, spam can lead to computer viruses and identity theft. Spammers can also use your company's server to send their messages. This can result in a stream of complaints and can also tie up your server.

When you receive spam, the best thing to do is delete the message. Microsoft Outlook and many other email applications will filter most spam, but it's likely that some will get through to your inbox. It's still important to check your "Junk E-Mail" folder periodically to make sure legitimate mail didn't get sent there. If you want to increase your spam protection, there are numerous free or cheap software solutions to keep spam out. As always, check with your employer before downloading any programs to your work computer. Do not put the spam sender on your blocked list. This will only notify the spammer that your email address is active and result in more spam. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is responsible for policing spam. You can register complaints with them or find out more information about reducing spam and protecting your server at http://www.ftc.gov/spam.

Use Templates

If you find yourself responding to the same frequently asked questions, you may want to create a template. A template will allow you to save your stock message and reuse it again and again. Templates can be used for any response you send often. Some common uses for templates include

introducing yourself and your company giving directions to your office requesting information explaining product information explaining the terms of a contract.

Templates are easy to create. Follow these steps:

In the Outlook Inbox screen, choose the "Tools" menu, then "Options," and select the "Mail Format" tab. Uncheck the box, "Use Microsoft Office Word 2003 to edit email messages," then click "Apply." Now select "New Message" and type up your template; make sure you leave room to add in unique information such as the recipient's name. Save the message as an Outlook Template. Then go back into the "Tools" menu and recheck the "Use Microsoft Office Word" box. When you want to use your template, create a new message and from the "Tools" menu, select "Forms," then "Choose Form." From the dropdown menu, choose "Use Templates in File System," then select your desired template.

Creating just one template will end up saving you time.

Get Organized

Email efficiency doesn't only pertain to sending messages; it also has to do with how your email is stored. How many times have you searched through folder after folder looking for a lost email? The effectiveness of email searches have made finding a misplaced email less of a problem, but it can still be time-consuming if you have a lot of messages. In general you need to be decisive when dealing with your email. Don't make the mistake of looking at a message, thinking about it, then deciding to deal with it later. Either delete the message or act on the message. If the message requires a significant amount of time to answer, store it in a folder to be acted upon later. Here are some tips to get you started:

Use the two-minute rule: If you can do it in two minutes, do it. Delete: If you can find the information elsewhere or have no further need for the message, delete it. Use folders: The inbox isn't meant to be one, big folder; create special folders for people, projects, and events. Eliminate outdated messages: Periodically, take the time to delete messages that contain old or "expired" information.

The ways to organize your email are too numerous and varied to explore here. Find a system that is easy to maintain and that works for you.

Deal with Interruptions

One of email's main attractions is that it provides instant communication, but this very fact also can cause email to become a nuisance. With a few keystrokes and a click of the mouse, we can reach a co-worker or a group of co-workers, but we often don't stop to think about the effect that our emails have upon the recipients. A study by Basex, a New York-based knowledge research firm, found that it typically takes workers 25 minutes to get back on track after an interruption. Basex found that interruptions take up to 28 percent of the knowledge worker's day, creating a total of $588 billion of wasted company time each year. One of the primary sources of these interruptions is email. Surely you've fallen victim to email interruption. You're just getting started on a project, then ding, your email alert sounds or from the corner of your eye you see the envelope icon appear on your computer screen. More often than not you will stop what you are doing and at least glance at the contents of the email, if not take the time to respond. When you get back to your project, your concentration has been broken and your attention diverted. Every time you get an unwelcome distraction, it's like taking two steps back. Here are some questions to think about:

How many times am I interrupted during the workday? How many of those interruptions are a result of email?

It's likely that email is the cause of most interruptions to your workday. Luckily, email is one of the few interruptions we can control.
Email Alerts

Solving the problem of email interruptions isn't all that hard; it's simply a matter of self-control. Microsoft Outlook notifies you of incoming email in four ways, including

playing a sound changing the mouse cursor showing an envelope icon in the notification area displaying a New Mail Desktop Alert.

Go to the "Tools" menu, select "Preferences," "E-mail Options," "Advanced E-mail Options," and deselect those four alerts. Then it's a matter of keeping yourself from checking your inbox every few minutes. To help control that, you can set up Outlook to receive mail only at a set number of minutes. From the "Tools" menu, select "Options," "Mail Setup," "Send/Receive," and the "Schedule a send/receive every" box; then change the number of minutes to what works best for you. Every 3060 minutes is typically a good interval. This will help you deal with your emails at set times and in groups rather than continually interrupting your work to respond throughout the day. By using these simple options already in Outlook, you can eliminate email distractions and maintain focus on your work.

One of the easiest ways to deal with email distractions is to turn off your audible email alert and set your email application to receive new messages at a set number of minutes. For more information, see the sidebar Email Alerts. Unfortunately, turning off your email alerts won't entirely cure the problem of email interruption. When it comes to interruptions, you are your own worst enemy. To control interruptions, you will have to control your need to check your email every few minutes.
Email Addiction

An increasing number of workers are staying connected with Blackberrys and other emailenabled mobile devices. Employees are now checking their messages after-hours, on the weekend, and even while on vacation. It's safe to say that many of us are addicted to email.

This doesn't seem so bad. Checking your email means you're staying on top of your work, right? Not exactly. For most of us, dealing with email is a relatively low-impact task; we would rather read and send messages than deal with the mountain of files on the corner of our desks. Think about these questions regarding email addiction:

How many times a day do I check my email? How many messages do I receive that require my immediate attention?

Most of us look at email as something that needs to be handled right away. We can't stand the idea of a question, comment, or message sitting in our inbox unread. The truth is that most email messages are not critically time-sensitive and can wait for a few hours before being attended to. Messages that require an immediate response are better suited for the telephone. Part of this problem is a misconception: People think that quickly responding to email or fielding email during non-business hours will make them appear to be diligent and tireless workers. Instead, it makes them look like they have nothing to do but handle emails. Constantly checking your email can lead to

reduced quality of work reduced productivity increased stress.

Keeping up with your email is good, but interrupting your "regular" work to check it is counterproductive. By continually stepping away from your work, you lose focus; the quality of your work becomes uneven, and you get less done. Checking your email every few minutes only compounds the desire to be constantly connected to your messages. In effect, you are always "on the job," checking your email from the dinner table and sending messages before getting into bed. Because the messages never go away, they become a source of anxiety and stress. The need to respond to messages right away becomes overwhelming. The best way to deal with email addiction is to exercise a little self-control coupled with routine. Research done by Ashish Gupta, a doctoral candidate at Oklahoma State University, and Ramesh Sharda, Regents Professor of Management Science and Information Systems at the same school, suggests checking your email between two and four times per day. Gupta and Sharda found that checking messages on this schedule allowed for an acceptable response time while minimizing interruptions. They also suggest getting into the routine of checking your email at certain times during the workday. If checking your email only four times a day seems like an impossible goal, don't worry. Start by checking your email every 30 minutes; when you become comfortable, increase to 60 minutes, then 90 minutes. Keep increasing the intervals by 30 minutes until you reach an interval that you are comfortable with. You may find that you never get down to checking your email only four

times a day, but any improvement will result in increased productivity and reduced levels of stress.

Stay Legal
How is email used in your company? Are all messages strictly work related? Do employees circulate jokes or links to websites? Keep in mind that most companies monitor employees' emails in some fashion. Although most companies tolerate some kind of non-work-related communication, these emails can be used against you. It's not just company email; anything you do at your office computer can be monitored. This includes

websites visited instant message communications downloaded content or software messages sent from a personal email account.

For more information about how email can lead to fallout, see the sidebar Legal Woes. Legal Woes As stated before, email is a permanent record. You can delete emails, but they don't really disappear; it's more than likely that a record of email communication is being kept by your company. There are plenty of stories of email coming back to haunt people.

Enron During the fallout from the 2001 Enron scandal, the company's email records revealed that Enron's board of directors was warned about the company's hidden losses and faulty accounting practices.

Microsoft Bill Gates has even had email come back to bite him. During Microsoft's 1999 antitrust trial, an email from 1997 was used to implicate Gates in seeking to crush his competition.

Of course, these are both large-scale scandals, but that doesn't mean email can't get you into trouble. An off-color remark, a complaint about the boss or company, even casual communication back and forth with a co-worker can get you into trouble. Any sensitive information is best delivered face-to-face or even over the telephone.

Here are some tips to keep you out of trouble when using company Internet and email:

Be aware of your company's email and Internet policiesand stick to them. Do not send any messages you wouldn't want everyone in the office to read. Do not visit inappropriate websites. This sounds like common sense, but people are still getting fired for looking at inappropriate content at work. Do not forward sensitive company information to anyone outside of the company.

Try to keep your personal life out of your emails as much as possible. In legal cases, email is considered the same as a handwritten, signed document. If your company has its emails subpoenaed by a court, your communication will be read by many and possibly made public. Because emails are our most vital form of business communication, it's time we started paying more attention to them. It will take some time and energy to break your bad habits and develop good ones. Still, with some consideration and discipline, you can turn email from a headache into the true time-saver it was meant to be.

References & Resources

External Consultant Mike Song CEO and Author Cohesive Knowledge Solutions

Articles
Gupta, Ashish, et al. "E-Mail Management: A Techno-Managerial Research Perspective." Communications of the Association for Information Systems, vol. 17, 2006, pp. 941961. Jackson, Thomas,Ray Dawson, andDarren Wilson. "The Cost of Email Interruption." The Journal of Systems & Information Technology, vol. 5, no. 1, 2001, pp. 8192. Laff, Michael. "The Myth of Multitasking." T+D, March 2007, p. 20. Powell,William. "Email Overload." T+D, December 2002, pp. 2225. Rudick,Marilynne, andLeslieO'Flahavan. "Email for Good, Not Evil." T+D, May 2001, pp. 113 115. Spira, Jonathan B., andDavid M.Goldes. "Information Overload: We have Met the Enemy and He Is Us." Basex, March 2007. Weber,Ron. "The Grim Reaper: The Curse of E-Mail." MIS Quarterly, vol. 28, no. 3, September 2004, pp. iii-xiii.