What is the worse thing that could come out of e-mailing in the office. Well as more and more people begin to become comfortable it seems to be forgotten that the recipient may be an e-mail hoarder and does not use the "trash" button. Anything written may be stored in a nice little folder to be called upon at a later time. Many people now e-mail as if they are speaking to someone and don't think twice about what they send or what could happen if the wrong person sees it.

What does this mean? Have you ever said something and wished you could take it back? Worst case scenario deny, deny, deny. Verbally yes you are able to deny or explain what you really meant to say. E-mail doesn't give us that ability.

Not so long ago I was told of a common mishap with an email sent that wasn't meant for the recipient. After a first time meeting a man's girlfriend intended a very rude e-mail to him but instead sent it to the brother. She insulted his religious beliefs and called his unborn child a probable mistake. Totally disrespected the state of their ailing mother and went on and on. Obviously she didn't realize she had clicked reply everyone. She tried to retrieve it back but it didn't work. Was she having a bad day who knows, but the recipient was saddened to know that she works in a high position related to educational programming for students. What is worse is that it was sent using her work e-mail.

In my many years of emailing, I am yet to either retrieve successfully or know of someone that did. How much worse can it get? Well the recipient now has written proof of what was stated on record. Imagine if this e-mail had been forwarded to the school board? It would be downhill from there.

When something is said in person, it can be denied or argued that the message was misunderstood. E-mails can be forwarded to others, posted, tweaked you just never know who's eyes will end up reading it.

All in all think before you write. Is the content something that if publicized you wouldn't care if the world read it? After all it is your name signed to it for all to see.

p.s. don't forget to spell check!

Learn more about this author, Jennifer Cameron.
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