Danearys 9 to 5

Today's TIP: Runaway Emails

Part of being in the working world, is to make some mistakes with email. There have been many instances where you email someone and A. they get the wrong idea from the email, or B. you didn't mean for them to get that particular email. Either way you goofed royally. So how do you avoid this mayhem, or in some cases patch it up?

Separate your personal emails from your professional emails. Don't email out of your work place email (ex outlook). Your boss can read it later if they search your computer and it also keeps things really simple to just know that everything coming in that inbox is strictly professional. Use your personal emails from an online email account, such as gmail.

Skip the excuses if you did mess up. No matter how hard you try, you can't go back and change what you already sent, so don't bother trying to cover it up. Avoid excuses and just be sincere. If you wrote a bitchy email about a project because you're secretly upset you're not managing it, suck it up and say so. Hey, you'll probably get brownie points for being so honest, and it shows a certain amount of maturity to just face it.

Don't email people back with the "I'm Sorry" email. There's no accounting for tone and emotion in an email, so forget about putting your apology in writing. Sorry can come off as flippant in a written form...and even sometimes angry if you use caps or anything else to emphasize your words. Pick up the phone, or walk over to the office...put your tail between your legs and fess up.
And finally...just be patient. Your email may cause your pal, boss or whoever to write you off, but chances are they'd like to forget the incident as much as you would. So give them time. In the meantime don't beat yourself up over it. Move on and do your job (if it was at work) or continue the friendship (if it was a friend)--eventually, the sting will wear off