Read Now: Your Email Habits are Ruining Your Career

On average, we spend at least 28% of our work week reading and replying emails (though it certainly feels like more!). With that much time spent, we are all bound to form some habits surrounding it. Unfortunately, not all these habits work in our favour. In fact, some can be particularly damaging to your career (imagine hitting Reply All when you really just want to reply your colleague and complain about the client… who’s in the address list!).

The list of email boo-boos goes on and on, and oftentimes, we are guilty of at least one of them. See if you are guilty of any and learn how to fix it right away.

#1 Too Quick Too Careless
When we rush, we tend to overlook things – for example, are you emailing the right person? Did you use the correct address (same name, different address, different person!). Check that you’ve included all the right people in your email. There’s nothing more embarrassing than composing an email about Person X only to send it to yups, Person X himself (trust us, this has happened to many of us before!). Before you hit send, check through your To field… then check again. Better yet, you can set a delay send function for your email so that you still have that buffer to stop that email from being sent before committing a huge work boo-boo.

#2 Cool Down Before Replying!
We get it – our emotions often get the better of us. When it comes to an email that particularly irks you, you’re tempted to reply with exactly what you are thinking. Before you write that email in anger and frustration – STOP. There’s nothing worse than sending out something rude and sarcastic officially in your email that can be forwarded to others, including your boss. You also don’t want this to bite back at you during your next performance review where your professionalism is being questioned. Calm down, take a breather – come back to your reply later when you’re more level headed and less agitated.

#3 Say Hello and Thank You
Guilty as charged – there’s been one too many times when I’ve started my email going straight to the subject. Which is great for brevity; not so good for politeness. As an email is also a form of communication, it makes sense to have common courtesy by addressing the person you’ve emailing. After all, you wouldn’t start a conversation going straight into the topic. Make sure to start every email with a polite hello and thank you at the end. This will go towards your brownie point of acknowledging people properly and not coming across as brusque.

#4 It’s Not LOL When You BRB and TTYL
Ever get those emails filled with LMAOs and IMHOs? It can get annoying trying to decipher what those means and to be honest, it veers on being immature. There’s a time and place for these chat languages; work emails are never one of them. Even “haha” may not be appropriate, especially if you are addressing something serious. In all regards, maintain a professional (read: appropriate) language in your email communications.

#5 Sending That Email to Everyone
Yes, there are instances when you need to address multiple people in one email but if it is something that concerns just one person, don’t be too easygoing with the CC field. Many times, when you are adding others in the address field on top of the person you’re really emailing, it can come across like you’re trying to set that person up as not being responsible and competent. Wouldn’t you hate it if your colleague carbon copies your boss when he’s emailing something as simple as asking for an access request? And imagine if everyone is constantly being included in the rest of the thread – talk about jamming one’s inbox (major no-no when it comes to emailing!). Unless it is an important request or discussion that involves the entire team, make sure to address just the person necessary in your email. Better yet – go and talk to that person instead of sending an email for everything!

#6 Be Concise
You’re writing an email, not an epic novel. Don’t air your grouses over email. Nobody has time to go through all your points from 1 to 30. Keep your emails direct and straight to the point so that the person you address knows exactly what you’re asking. If you have something detailed you need to discuss, schedule a quick call instead of conveying all that information on an email.

#7 Be Mindful What You Write
If there is one email rule you need to follow, it’s this – be careful what you put in an email. You don’t want your email complaining about your boss to be shown to… your boss. Or your email questioning your company’s culture to go viral! Talk about burning bridges or whatever chances you have to excel at work. Take this age-old advice: If you have nothing good to say, don’t say it. So if you have nothing good to write about, leave it!

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash.