Ten Topics You Should Never Put In An Email

Ask any ten people if they know of someone who has been terminated or an organization that has been hauled into court over an email, and at least one can cite person and case. The story usually has an unhappy ending.nnHere are the no-no’s:nnNegative Comments About Upper ManagementnEven if “deleted,” these emails can be retrieved. Often such remarks accidentally get passed on. After four replies on an ongoing saga, someone forgets your sarcastic line buried at the bottom and forwards the email to another colleague to answer a different question.nnCriticism Regarding Peer or Staff PerformancenWritten comments cause employees to brood. They seem more official than spoken words.nnBonuses or Salary IssuesnIf positive plans fail to materialize, the writing seems like “proof” that they are deserved.nnRacial or Gender SlursnSurely not in this decade.nnProduct or Service LiabilitiesnOpponents can subpoena your emails as evidence that you were aware of problems and ignored warnings.nnCompetitor UntruthsnSee you in court.nnGossip About ColleaguesnEven the most innocent “news” can strike people the wrong way If they want it told, they’ll tell it.nnSloppy WritingnClear writing reflects clear thinking. The opposite is also true. Your image may depend on daily informal email more than on formal documents.nnHumor—Particularly Sarcasm and Tongue-in-CheeknWhat comes across well with proper inflection, a smile, a goofy expression, and a slap on the back frequently falls flat on the screen.nnAnything About Your Personal Life You’d Be Embarrassed to Have Printed on the Front Page of Your NewspapernYour love life, your weekend adventures, your political views. Nada. Enough said. So what’s left? Work. Ho-hum. And I think that’s the general idea.