COMMON WORK E - MAIL MISTAKES .............................

Most of us rely on e-mail as one of our primary     
communication tools. And given the number of messages we send and receive, we
do it with remarkable success. But as with anything, the more e-mails we send,
the more likely we are to screw one up. And simple e-mail mistakes can be
disastrous. They can cost us a raise, promotion—even a job. With a new year upon us, this is the perfect time
to go through some of the worst e-mail mistakes employees make and how to avoid them.

1. Sending before you mean to. 
Enter the recipient’s e-mail address only when your e-mail is ready to be sent.
This helps reduce the risk of an embarrassing misfire, such as sending an
important e-mail to the wrong person or e-mailing a half-written note.

2. Forgetting the attachment.
If your e-mail includes an attachment, upload the file to the e-mail before composing it. This
eliminates the embarrassing mistake of forgetting it before hitting “send,” and
having to send another e-mail saying you forgot to attach the document.

3. Expecting an instant response.
Don’t send an e-mail and show up at the recipient’s desk 30 seconds later
asking if they’ve received it. They did, and they’ll answer at their
convenience. That’s the point of e-mail.

4. Forwarding useless e-mails.
I've never seen a single e-mail forward at work that was beneficial. Whether
it's a silly joke or a heartwarming charity, there’s never a time to share an
e-mail forward using your work e-mail.

5. Not reviewing all new messages before replying. 

When you return to the office after a week or more
away, review all new e-mails before firing off responses. It might be hard to
accept, but odds are, things did march on without you. Replying to something
that was already handled by a co-worker creates extra communication,
which can lead to confusion, errors, and at the very least, wasted time for
everyone involved.

6. Omitting recipients when you "reply all.

" Unless there’s an important reason
to omit someone, don’t arbitrarily leave people off the response if they were
included on the original message.

7. Including your e-mail signature again and again.

Nor do you need to include it at the end of an e-mail you send to your long-time co-worker who sits six feet away. If you have your e-mail program set to automatically generate a signature with each new message, take a second to delete it when communicating with someone who knows who you are. It’s always wise to include your phone number, but the entire blurb with your title and mailing address is often nothing but clutter.

8. Composing the note too quickly.
Don’t be careless; write every e-mail as if it will be read at Saint Peter’s
Square during the blessing of a new Pope. Be respectful with your words and
take pride in every communication.

9. Violating your company’s e-mail policy.

Many companies have aggressive spam filters in place that monitor "blue" language.
From that famous four-letter word to simple terms, such as "job
search," don't end up tripping the system by letting your guard down.

10. Failing to include basic greetings.

Simple pleasantries do the trick. Say “hi” at the start of the message and “thanks” at
the end. Be sure to use the recipient's name. Be polite yet brief with your
courtesy.

11. E-mailing when you're angry. 

Don’t do it. Ever. Recall buttons are far from a perfect science, and sending a
business e-mail tainted by emotion
is often a catastrophic mistake. It sounds cliche, but sleep on it. Save the
message as a draft and see if you still want to send it the next morning.

12. Underestimating the importance of the subject 

line. The subject line is your headline. Make it
interesting, and you’ll increase the odds of getting the recipient's attention.
Our inboxes are cluttered; you need to be creative and direct to help the
recipient cut through the noise. You should consistently use meaningful and descriptive
subject lines. This will help your colleagues determine what you’re writing
about and build your “inbox street cred,” which means important messages are
more likely to be read.

13. Using incorrect subject lines.

Change the subject line if you’re changing the topic of conversation. Better yet,
start a new e-mail thread.

14. Sending the wrong attachment. 
If you double-check an attachment immediately before sending and decide that
you need to make changes, don’t forget to update the source file. Making
corrections to the version that’s attached to the e-mail does not often work,
and it can lead to different versions of the same doc floating around.

15. Not putting an e-mail in context.

 Even if you were talking to someone an hour ago about something, remind them in the
e-mail why you’re writing. In this multi-tasking world of ours, it's easy for
even the sharpest minds to forget what's going on.

16. Using BCC too often.

Use BCC (blind carbon copy) sparingly. Even though it’s supposed to be a secret, it
rarely is. Burn someone once, and they’ll never trust you again. Likewise,
forwarding e-mail is a great way to destroy your credibility.
When people send you something, they aren’t expecting you to pass it on to your
co-workers. The e-mail might make its way back to the sender, who will see that
their original message was shared. They might not call you out on it, but
they’ll make a mental note that you can’t be trusted.

17. Relying too much on e-mail. 
News flash! No one is sitting around staring at their inbox waiting for your
e-mail. If something is urgent, use another means of communication. A red
“rush” exclamation point doesn’t compare to getting up from your desk and
conducting business in person.

18. Hitting "reply all" unintentionally.
This is a biggie. And it's not just embarrassing; depending on what you wrote
in that e-mail, it can ruin your relationship with a co-worker or even your
boss. Take extra care whenever you respond so you don't hit this fatal button.