Discretion is Critical in Business E-mail Communications

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?

Professionals Do Not Forward E-mails Without Comment

Almost daily I receive a business e-mails that are forwarded without any comment from the Sender. Am I to take action? Do you have a question? Is your time more important than mine that you don’t feel you need to take the time to type a nice greeting, a simple sentence or two in regard to why you are forwarding that information and what you would like me to do with it?

In the course of going through this morning’s e-mails through my WordPress Consulting company, I received four such forwards today. All four, I assume, want me to do something with the information within the e-mail. But if I assume incorrectly — and that has happened — about what they want me to do (or more accurately assume I would do), I’ve wasted my time.

Unfortunately, if I assume incorrectly from the client’s point of view, I am not to charge for my time to redo what it is they really wanted that they didn’t take the time to verbalize. So, as a policy, I do not consider forwarded e-mails a “work order” or direction to do what I assume should be done and to charge accordingly.

I’ve had that happen in the past. “I didn’t know you would do all that…” or “I didn’t know what was involved…” because I took action based on the e-mail they forwarded with no comment or direction. That’s where including comments like: “Hey, Judith — can you check this out and let me know what is involved? Thanks for your help!” works wonders. Heck, it took me only a couple seconds to type that!

In most cases, I consider forwards without comments and FYI — to be filed away for future reference. If the topic is that which I know requires immediate action, to avoid any possible misunderstanding, I then send a follow-up e-mail asking for specific direction. An e-mail that could have been avoided if the Sender had just taken the time — and courtesy — to let me know why they were forwarding and what they wanted me to do.

The moral of this story is something many seem to forget. Part of business e-mail etiquette is not just thinking about how time strapped you are at the moment. It includes thinking about the person on the other side — who, by the way — may be just as time strapped as you are.

Business professionals know that no one person’s time is more valuable than another persons. You build solid business relationships by not being “all about me” but by considering the other side and reflecting that by taking the time necessary to type a simple sentence or two to ensure your requests or inquiries are explained and understood.

How do you handle e-mails that are forwarded to you without any comment as to why they are being forwarded to you?

Don’t Jump to Conclusions in Your Business E-mail

E-mail makes it so much easier to boldly accuse or jump to incorrect conclusions. I receive several e-mails every day containing comments or claims that I know the very same folks would not say to my face or that stem from them making an assumption that is not based on anything I actually did or said.

Being behind these screens makes it so much easier to type what may not be true or nice because you don’t have that eye contact or person sitting in front of you to then have to deal with their reaction. And almost everyone reading this post can admit at some time mistakenly reading into an e-mail what was not there. With business e-mail communications, responding with accusations or assumptions can impact your reputation and perception of professionalism.

By jumping to conclusions and then because of the ease of typing things you wouldn’t normally say if face-to-face, ability to Cc: the boss or BCc: coworkers with just a click, don’t communicate in a manner that you would not appreciate if done to you. At the same time the onus is on each of us to ensure that our intent and tone are crystal clear so there is the least amount of room for any assumptions to be made.

There are so many things going on in the background that the majority of e-mailers are not aware of that can cause delayed e-mails or lack of response. Or someone may be in a hurry and type off a quick response that then comes off as terse and vague. Because you perceive an attitude that may not be there or that something is not happening as quickly or the way you desire, doesn’t necessarily make it so.

How’s this? While you are assuming, why not also assume that you do not know all the details or criteria that could be affecting a situation and ask for an explanation in a kind and courteous way?

If I don’t receive responses to my inquiries, I don’t assume why or send accusations or “eTattle” to the higher-ups, rather I send a kind follow up confirming if the original request was received and/or if everything on the other side is O.K.

If an e-mail is terse or rude, I respond back with the courtesy not offered to me to set an example of how professionals communicate with e-mail.

Jumping to conclusions many times only serves to expose your lack of knowledge, understanding or ability to act as a true professional in any given situation. I’m sure you’ll agree that is not a good approach in any business situation.

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