‘Don’t send that!’: E-mail conversations managers should never have
December 18, 2009 by Jared BilskiPosted in: Communication tips, Efficiency, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest news & views, Lighter-side, Technology
For many employers, e-mail has long been the preferred method of communication about anything and everything — but certain things should never be said electronically.
Scary thought: More and more courts are accepting e-mail as evidence — and that means your company can easily end up on the hook for seemingly innocuous e-mails by managers and supervisors.
To be safe, remind managers they should always avoid having the following types of conversations via e-mail:
- Deciding whether or not the company should contact an attorney (“I have a feeling we’re gonna need to bring in a lawyer to deal with Mike’s complaints”).
- Criticism about legally protected actions (“I can’t believe Mary’s taking leave again!”).
- An employee’s poor performance review (“Earl couldn’t believe I gave him a negative review”), and
- Anything about salaries, bonuses or promotions (“It’s a toss-up; the promotion really could go to either Bob or Lisa”).
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Tags: Attorney, Bonus, E-mail conversations, Legally protected actions, Performance review, Promotion, Salary
December 14th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
I think emails should be used for friends and family to stay in touch. I think it’s also a useful tool for business. I use emails every day to correspond with business associates. I got an email once from a boss chastising me for something. I thought it was the coward’s way out. She didn’t have the nerve to face me and tell me to my face what she wanted to tell me. In this instance, I don’t like emails.
It is very easy to bring up email and type off something to someone about any subject. Whether it’s appropriate or not is between the sender and receiver. And yes, I have also heard courts have started letting emails be in trials. To me, it’s just the same as someone putting a video on Youtube, showing what you did to someone. If it’s illegal, you shouldn’t have been that stupid. Same with emails, if you write something in an email that you shouldn’t have, ignorance is not a defense.
Emails are very easy and quick. To those who don’t think twice about what they’re writing in an email, good luck, you’ll probably eventually need it.
June 17th, 2010 at 9:19 am
Common sense should always be the Rule. If you wouldn’t put it into a business letter, don’t put it down in email either. Just because it flies through the inter- or intranet doesn’t make it less of a written correspondence.