Email Etiquette - My Own Pet Peeve

When discussing technology issues, email communications generally fall into the Top 10 List of things to think about, plan for (especially in e-discovery discussion), and be mindful of. One of my own suggested tips is this: when returning from vacation, a lengthy trial or hearing, or any of the myriad of reasons that may have taken you away from your email, you undoubtedly are inundated with possibly hundreds of emails that were sent during your absence -- (1) sort your emails by subject; (2) read each and every email within that subject; and (3) then decide to which you should respond first, if at all. Why? Because there are few things that frustrate people more than receiving a response to an email sent, by way of example, a week ago, where one of the recipients to the email was absent, and is now responding to the emails as he/she comes to them in chronological order. No doubt some (or all) of the issues raised, questions asked, or input requested has been covered by the other recipients to the email - making the "late arrival"'s response to the conversation moot, or uninformed because he/she obviously didn't take the time to read the entire conversation that transpired during his/her absence before responding.

After returning from lunch today, I did something I generally don't do -- committed one of my own pet peeves!! I logged in, looked at my Inbox, and saw that I had received 20 emails over the lunch hour, and began responding without sorting by subject. Admittedly, I got caught up in the subject of the conversation (and in attempting to solve the problem), and began responding to the first email received on the subject (instead of reading the entire thread). And I'm confident those who received my email thought to themselves, "Gee whiz, Kristine, it's too bad you didn't read the whole conversation before you responded, because if you had, you'd know that we've already resolved the issue."

So, I reiterate my pet peeve ...... (1) sort your emails by subject; (2) read each and every email within that subject; and (3) then decide to which you should respond first, if at all. It may be that you only need to respond to the last email sent on the subject by saying, "Looks like you guys have this all resolved, but if you need input specifically from me, please let me know." Or, you can also use one of the best, but often least used (these days away) "tried and true technological inventions" -- the telephone. When I returned from vacation recently, I read the emails on a specific subject, and then picked up the phone to buzz my associate and asked if she wanted my input because it appeared that the issue has been successfully resolved. And I wasted no keystroke or effort in preparing a futile response.

Learning lessons from oneself -- brilliant!