that turn up at trials. E-mails also can easily be sent to the wrong
people. The stories of e-mails inadvertently sent to unintended
recipients—hitting “reply all” instead of “reply” is the classic
method—are legendary and quite amusing as long as they’re not
about you. Don’t e-mail it if you don’t want the world to read it. If
you anticipate that you may need to save an e-mail before finishing
it, address it to yourself in case it’s inadvertently sent.
- E-mail messages are forever.
You can’t take it back. You may be able to erase your copy, but it
most certainly will remain on the company’s server—indefinitely. - The delivery system doesn’t diminish the importance of the
quality of the message.
You still need to think, organize, write, revise, and make sure
the tone is appropriate for your message and your audience. We
haven’t invented the technology to do the creating for us. - The sheer volume of e-mail.
The average worker receives more than fifty e-mails every day.
Many of us receive substantially more, and it’s time consuming
just to review them all. Set up filters in your e-mail client to orga-
nize and separate what’s important from the personal mail that
can wait. Then, instead of dealing with one inbox containing all
your e-mails, you can select smaller folders based on priorities
you’ve established.
You must discipline your use of e-mail or risk getting caught up
in a time-gobbling, mind-numbing round of point-counterpoint dia-
logue. You may need to establish e-mail–free zones in your day, or
to set regular periods when you will read and reply to your e-mails.
E-mail is a tool—and nothing more. Select it when it’s the best
method of communication in a given situation. There’ll still be
room for the confidential written memo, the formal business let-
ter, the telephone call, and for the announcement tacked on the
bulletin board.
C O M M U N I C AT I O N S