E-mail is the official means of communication in many companies, as employees use it to exchange information and important work files with each other, but the main e-mail function may change at times to take another path that is not related to the professionalism, which ultimately leads to unpleasant problems. .
Today I present to you a list of things that should not be written in the e-mail.
1- Announcement of taking leave
There is no doubt that you decided at some point in your career to take a day off to relax and enjoy spending time alone or with your family, of course, there is no harm in that, but avoid not to announce this vacation via e-mail.
Even worse is faking sickness in front of your boss and then sending an email to a co-worker to let him know that you will be spending your "sick" vacation playing soccer! Your boss may understand your need for a day off to rest if you speak to him directly, but if you send him your request by e-mail, he looks like a careless, non-compliant person.
2- Discussing employee performance
Never discuss the performance of one of your colleagues in the company, unless you are their boss, and discuss their performance with the company director or the person in charge of the human resources department.
SkillPath President Cam Bishop describes this behavior, saying: “Discussing employee performance via email is not only rude and rude, but it is not your business either, so don't get involved in what is not your concern!”
3- Express your own feelings
It's best to keep your emotional thoughts and feelings away from professional emails. According to Ginger Robitaille, Head of Human Resources at Turning the Corner, emails should be based on facts and only share essential information. You can always express your feelings in other ways, and when the feelings are in writing, they are often misunderstood.
If it is necessary to discuss a matter related to your feelings about a specific project or work in the company, it is recommended that you do so through a phone call or a direct meeting with the person concerned.
4- Informal correspondence
Instead of sending an e-mail that includes the following: “Can you return the documents to me on Tuesday at three o'clock in the evening? Remember that you are discussing something at work, not a personal issue, with your friend. You can express the previous mail in a more formal way as follows: “Please let me know if you were able to review the files I sent you last week? Please review them and send them back to me on Tuesday at 3 pm. So that we can follow up on the project and deliver it in a timely manner.”
5- Revealing company secrets
Never share the project you are working on with another person outside the company, or with a team other than the one you work with, unless you get permission from your manager. What appears to you to be an innocent mistake may in fact lead to your dismissal from work, or worse, trial for divulging company secrets.
6- Complaining about work
If you are complaining to your best friend about a difficult day you spent at work, stay away from using the official company email to discuss such an issue. Not only that, sending an email to your co-worker complaining about work pressure or that you hate your job may find his way to your manager easily! In the best case, you will have a private session with your manager to discuss the causes of your annoyance, while in the worst case, you will find yourself losing your job!
7- Apologizing too much
Of course it is important that you take responsibility for your actions and apologize for your mistakes, but some people do it a lot! Which weakens your personality and reduces the respect of your colleagues for you. If you find yourself among those who frequently email apologies, try to cut back and be more assertive.
8- Criticism and providing feedback
It may seem easy to provide feedback via e-mail, but in many cases, this is counterproductive. So, it is best to pick up the phone and make an appointment with the person concerned to discuss his work or at least make a video call with him until you clarify the weaknesses in his work.
According to many experts, the criticism sent via e-mail is not received in a good way. On the contrary, it often creates other problems that you need. If you find yourself compelled to provide some feedback via e-mail, be sure to focus on the positive aspects.
9- Searching for other job opportunities
This is one of the worst things you can send in an email, and yet we find that many people do. So if you are someone who continues to talk about their desire to leave work, or the desire of one of their colleagues to do so, or if you continue to correspond with clients or competing companies in search of a new job opportunity, we advise you to stop that, or at least do not do it through the official work email.
10- ambiguous messages
In recent times, it has become common to use phrases such as: “based on our prior agreement,” or “by reference to the e-mail sent to you earlier” or other vague sentences that aim to refer to something that happened previously (meeting, communication, email ... etc. ).
It is completely unprofessional, but rather an attempt to blame the recipient of the message and burden him with additional work, as well as vague correspondence that may not be understandable and clear to the recipient of the e-mail.
Instead of using such phrases, make sure to explain what you are referring to in short so that you remind the email reader exactly what you want, as this is the most professional and guaranteed to work properly.
These were some of the most important things you should not write down or discuss via email. There are also some other topics that are strictly forbidden to discuss through official e-mail, such as political issues, rumors within the company, or whatever is considered a form of harassment.
Always remember that e-mails are always present, and it is difficult to get rid of them, and some companies monitor the correspondence that takes place between their employees, without knowing it, so it is better to remain in safety and avoid writing anything that is not professional, in order to ensure the continuation of your bright professional image .
