Avoiding avoidable email mistakes
About 6 years ago, a participant in a leadership program explained how she had found her dream job and put in place a comprehensive plan to get that job. It took about six months, but she finally got the offer. “But I turned it down†she said.
She explained “I was at home with my family on a Friday night. My mobile phone rang at about 10 PM and it was the manager of the position I had applied for. He told me I was the successful applicant and could start whenever I wanted.
I was very excited initially, but over the weekend I mulled over the fact that he was calling me at 10 PM on a Friday night. I decided I didn’t want to work in an organisation, or for a boss, where that sort of 24 x 7 mentality was so strong that they didn’t think twice about ringing a new starter at that time. I called at 9 AM on Monday morning and told him I didn’t want the job.â€
Now I know the example above doesn’t relate to email. But the same thing happens with email. Without even thinking about it, I regularly work late at night and early in the morning. As part of that work, I often send emails. But sending emails to staff out of hours unnecessarily can have a big negative impact on engagement and performance.
And, it’s not what you say it’s what you do that matters. I recall a conversation with Helen, our office manager, a few years ago. Helen had replied to an email that I sent at about 11 PM. The next morning I gently chided her, reminding her of what I had often said: “don’t worry about emails I send after hours, I’ll let you know if any of them need to be actioned. The rest can be done the next day.â€
Helen replied to the effect that she knew I was very busy and that if I sent something I probably needed it done quickly.
As with all things, it was my actions and not my words that have the biggest effect.
I immediately went looking for a way to schedule emails and send them later. I was amazed at how hard it was to find something that worked with Apple Mail. I found a program and tried it for several months, but it was way too clunky and I gave up on it. I tried saving emails as drafts with the intention of sending them the next morning at 9 AM. But, not surprisingly I often forgot and important messages didn’t get out on time. So, I gave up on that idea as well.
Mentor to Consultants - developing purposeful consulting enterprises, since 2001 | Mentor to Early-Stage Start-Ups - shaping prosperous futures, since 2006 | Mentor to SMEs - growing distinctive enterprises, since 2012
8 å¹´Good one Mark. Gmail lets you know that you have forgotten to attach the attachment by 'reading' your email after you have hit Send! I prefer to save the late night emails as drafts for final review in the morning. Sometimes, I may have missed something, other times l may need to alter the tone! Place a Post-It note on your keyboard to remind you to send! A client of mine, a 'company doctor', sends most of his emails at 6 am to "impress" his clients!!