Common Work E-mail Mistakes

Most of us rely on e-mail as one of our primary communication tools. And give the number of messages we send and receive, we do it with remarkable succes.

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.

2. Forgetting the attachment. If your e-mail includes an attachment, upload the file to the e-mail before composing it.

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.

4. Forwarding useless e-mails. I've never seen a single e-mail forward at work that was beneficial.

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.

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.

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.

9. Violating your company's e-mail policy. Many companies have aggressive spam filters in place that monitor "blue" language.

10. Failing to include basic greetings. Simple pleasantries do the trick.

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.

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.

13. Using incorrect subject lines. Change the subject line if you're changing the topic of conversation.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Are you guilty of any of these common work e-mail mistakes? Any you'd like to add to the list?