Discretion:
- Freedom to act or judge on one’s own
- Knowing how to avoid embarrassment or distress
- Refined taste; tact
- The power of making free choices unconstrained by external agencies
- The trait of judging wisely and objectively
O.K., so based on the above, one can easily surmise how much discretion comes into play when it comes to your business e-mail activities. Just a few examples off the top of my head of not using discretion when on the job:
- Forwarding a private e-mail sent to you by a coworker to others without the sender’s knowledge.
- Forwarding “warm and fuzzy” e-mails that state to “Send to Everyone You Know” using your business e-mail address.
- Sending attachments without the courtesy of asking first or confirming preferred file format.
- Using company e-mail lists to ask who stole your lunch out of the break room.
- Using company e-mail to visit personal sites and send non-business related e-mails.
I can go on and on. When it comes to discretion, I do believe that those who fail to use their discretionary powers when using e-mail for business communications, are viewed as doing just that. Those who don’t think before they do, by using discretion, more times than not are perceived as lacking tech or business savvy, courtesy and in some cases credibility and education are brought into question.
With business e-mail, you need to consciously use your discretion at all times to ensure you are perceived as a consummate professional and one that associates, customers, clients and management alike appreciate, can trust and rely on and look forward to communicating with.
Discretion could very well be one of the most important tools we have at our disposal to ensure we leave the impression we desire that is critical to our long term business success. Don’t you agree?
Some More Info for You:
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How would you advise me to handle an employee who is using company email for sending personal photos of family and discusses personal emails they get from the outside to other coworkers openly in the office? This person and others in the office have been told to only use their company email for business related content. There is no written policy in place however.
How strict should I be with reminders on the topic and do I be so rigid?
Hey, Heather:
As I am sure you now realize, you are impotent when there is no written policy in place. I would work towards making sure that happens sooner rather than later! That is just good business both for efficiency and liability reasons.
Article: Why Your Business Needs an E-mail Policy
In the meantime, you need to be as strict and as rigid as necessary to make sure the work environment remains efficient and not disrupted by this individuals (or any other employees) obvious disregard on this issue. While there will be once and awhile exceptions, that’s what they should be — the exception not the rule. And since we have no rules in place…
I would have a personal sit down with this employee and again reiterate your company’s policy on business e-mail use and let them know that their behavior is not acceptable in your workplace. Also let them know that their continued disruption with these actions — and abuse of company time and resources — will be noted in their personnel file.
Then, you get a policy (I have an example policy for you to start with at the article link above) in place that everyone is provided a copy of to review and a copy that they also sign acknowledging their review and understanding that then goes into their personnel file. Once you have that in place and everyone on the same page — you can easily take steps and recourse to address these situations.