Two Common Email Blunders That Could Get You in Trouble

In today’s modern world, email is one of the most popular methods of communication. Much of this can be attributed to its extreme ease of use, however, with ease of use comes ease of misuse. Quite often, someone you know or maybe even you yourself will commit an email blunder that stirs up feelings of extreme embarrassment. A few of these include:

• Reply All: Be careful when responding to emails that were intended for multiple people. In this situation, you must know that when you hit the reply button you will be replying to the entire group of people the email was intended for. Therefore, if it’s something you’d like to keep private it’s best that you don’t make this mistake. This is by far the biggest mistake you could make yet it’s the most common one of all.
• Wrong Contact: This goes hand in hand with the last blunder, but instead of unintentionally sending an email to multiple people you’ve managed to send it to only a single or a few unintended people. Information is sensitive, therefore it’s crucial that the people receiving your message are the same ones you intended to receive it.

 
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Email is Slowing You Down!

In the digital age information is moving at an all time high. A big reason for that is the advent of the email. This irreplaceable tool has made the globe smaller in almost every way, and will always be a fantastic choice when both the writer and recipient are away from there homes or desks, too busy to be paying close attention to a smart phone.

However, a conversation between project partners via email tends to become cumbersome when both people are at the computer, actively waiting on the other to respond. For this the most useful tool of technology is likely instant messaging. As the name implies, instant messaging is so fast it manages to create the illusion of a face to face conversation.

While email is technically, instant, when someone sends an email the recipient probably hasn’t read the message before the sender has released the “enter” key, as can be the case when using IM. This can turn ten minuets of exchanging emails into a sixty second conversation over instant messaging.

You can even send files, everything from text to video, over instant message. These files load as fast as email; allowing users to send a file, get notes on it, and have it altered and returned all without changing windows.

Why are you still letting email slow you down?

Forget Email: IM Me

Using email – which can be a blessing and a curse – is a given in the modern workplace. Spam, a crowded inbox and the time spent managing email makes it a task unto itself. The newest communication solutions are encouraging employees to IM rather than email. What are the benefits of using IM instead of email?

A Leaner Inbox
Because workplace email isn’t limited to workplace matters, most workers have received emails that weren’t necessarily wanted. These may have been from solicitors or from colleagues. While an occasional joke or story is appreciated, these can turn into long conversations when a colleague, or several colleagues, hits ‘Reply All’ to follow up to a message. Using IM instead of email can encourage more one-on-one communication, whether it’s water-cooler talk or something serious.

More Time
Because the usage of IM can create a leaner inbox, this reduces the time spent reading email and deciding to delete or save it. This frees time for more important tasks.

Quicker Communication
An IM response can state: “Too long to type, please call me.” Alternatively, it can quickly explain the answer to a question. Unfortunately, the nature of email doesn’t tell us if the recipient has received the message or when to expect a reply. IM removes these barriers from communication.