It’s been a few since I last posted. I’ve been thinking
about blogging about email a lot recently, though, and I’m quite sure I could
write a lengthy—hence boring—breakdown of several specific aspects of email and
the various ways it helps or erodes communication. But for now, we’ll settle
for a shorter rant on “Reply to All.”
There is great power in the “Reply to All” button. With a
single mouse click and a few strokes of the keyboard, your voice can be heard
by dozens of people in an instant. But beware: with the wrong use, this great
power can work against you. You must consider your recipients, Young Jedi,
before sending the message.
If all your recipients don’t need to know what you are about
to say, consider not replying to all. If a receiving party is too
busy to read every reply or simply doesn’t care, the email is clutter and just
another piece to sort.
If your message could be taken negatively, don’t reply to
all—or anyone, really. Any sentiment even perceived as being negative will only
be amplified through text. (There is an abundance of non-verbal communication
lost though test, but that is another rant.) A phone call would be a more
effective way of potentially delivering a sensitive message.
Related to “Reply to All” is adding recipients which I’ll go
ahead and include now. Again--very useful in many situations, but also
potentially irritating. Two scenarios are particularly irritating to me …
First, the sender includes my boss(es). The proper use of
this power would be to praise or criticize my work habits, but that’s actually
a rare occurrence. More often it seems
to be a desire for attention or an attempt at adding urgency to the request.
There’s no need for this: I respond to all (relevant) emails as promptly as
possible. If I slack, you may
include my boss :)
The second scenario is adding recipients to CYA. I get
it—you want people to see that you’re working … Okay, I don’t have any
constructive criticism here; it’s just annoying. It has potential to fall into
that first bucket of clutter.
Now for a CYA of my own: These are all generalizations. Obviously,
there is a time and a place for all this. But thanks for letting me vent :)