CHAPTER 7


Maintain Your Professional Reputation

For email, the old postcard rule applies. Nobody else is supposed to read your postcards, but you’d be a fool if you write anything private on one.

—JUDITH MARTIN, American journalist and etiquette expert, better known by her pen name, Miss Manners

Emails get reactions. Phone calls start conversations.

—SIMON SINEK, British-American author, speaker, and consultant

Your personal brand is reflected primarily in how you express yourself in conversation, in meetings, and in writing. Consider how much of your “conversation” happens through email. For many professionals, your communication is how you “show up” in today’s marketplace; it’s how you “do” your work.

In addition to your tone, topics, and word choices, consider these further guidelines to protect your personal image.

BEWARE OF LIABILITY FOR LEGITIMATE QUESTIONS AND STATEMENTS

Emails containing offensive remarks that appear on company equipment or servers make both the organization and you personally liable. Copyright violations aside, personal liability for email misuse involves misstatements, slander, defamation, harassment, and the like.

But your legal awareness has to go beyond those obvious disasters. Other potential liabilities might involve:

•   Straightforward questions

•   Inconsistent meeting dates

•   Inconsistent distribution lists

•   Inaction or nonresponses to email warnings

Let me get more specific on these email potholes.

Big lawsuits (think pharmaceutical companies, auto manufacturers, medical device manufacturers, healthcare facilities, construction companies) involving personal injury often center on an email where someone has raised a simple question.

Imagine a scenario where someone dies in an auto accident. The victim’s family sues the auto manufacturer, saying the brakes on the new model were faulty. Your email simply raised this question very early in the manufacturing process: “Should we do more testing on the XYZ system before moving on to the next stage?” That email may be used as court evidence for a charge of neglect or cost-cutting on the part of the manufacturer. Yet your original question might not have been intended as a warning at all. Perhaps you had no concern that there might be a safety issue, but instead were simply asking about when to schedule the next phase.

Of course, you need to ask straightforward questions in emails. But never couch cautions and recommendations in timid questions. If you have concerns, state them directly and persuasively. The point is to be legally alert in our litigious society, where innocent, straightforward questions can be misunderstood, twisted, and taken out of context.

Attorneys use sophisticated software programs to find what they need to establish or manipulate liability in court. Software exists to search emails for much more than obvious “hot words” (tax liability, ISIS, fraud, the IRS, the SEC, loopholes). These software programs can search for phrases that suggest someone is concerned about a problem: “forced to take a leave of absence,” “do it while he’s on vacation,” “serious concerns about this,” “force her off the board,” “that topic we discussed over lunch,” “fight back,” “can’t let anyone get wind of this,” “turn any questions about that situation over to me directly,” “how would anyone find out?” “Be sure to delete this email.” “What about the legality of this?”

Such software can detect when the same report might have been sent to two different people (but with different transmittal emails). It can analyze a sudden change of writing style over someone’s signature and trace traffic patterns between people. For example, these legal software programs can detect that you always transmit report X on the 17th of the month, but in October you delayed the report for three days. Why? Were you intentionally waiting until after the Big Meeting happened?

Such software can identify that you typically invite Joe, Haley, Jamil, Shawn, and Carmen to financial meetings. But in April you did not invite Shawn. Why not? Was that because the merger and declaration of bankruptcy were under discussion?

Imagine that in the case above about the auto manufacturing process, your coworker Curtis copied you on his email when he raised this question: “Should we do more testing on the XYZ system before moving on to the next stage?” Now you’re “in the know” about the situation. There’s a permanent email traffic record linking you to this information.

But let’s say you didn’t respond because you considered the question was really something for the engineers to work out among themselves. After all, you’re just the sales guy. They copied you just as a courtesy in case there was a delay and the customer asked for a status about delivery dates. In court, the attorneys will ask you why you didn’t take the “warning” seriously. Why no response? Were you concerned that the increased cost for more testing would lower company profits and your sales commission? (Note how the innocent question has morphed into a “warning.”)

You get the idea. If a nasty lawsuit develops, consider what such emails and traffic patterns when discussed in court could do to damage your integrity. Even if you feel certain that your email does not address a legal matter, consider what its contents might do to keep you awake at night.

For example, let’s say that as you’re negotiating for a raise, you ask to take on additional responsibilities to correct “problems and inefficiencies” in your department and division. Later, imagine yourself unexpectedly being called into a C-suite meeting to explain your “derogatory” comments about the company in your email referencing “problems and inefficiencies.”

The conclusion here: Be legally alert. Keep your meeting dates, distribution lists, writing style, and communication habits consistent. Consistency counts to establish your integrity and prove the lack of shenanigans.

You wouldn’t be the first person to lose a job—or a lawsuit—over innocent email blunders.

LET SENSITIVE EMAILS COOL OFF

As the writer, you’re a poor judge of the tone of your email. If in doubt about whether to hit SEND, don’t. Let your email cool off in the draft folder overnight. If a response is urgent, get a colleague to review a draft (not forwarded to them!) or read it to them over the phone for feedback on the tone.

If your impatience gets the better of you and you send the flaming sword first, you’ve just melted down and flamed out while everyone watched.

If you’ve hastily sent a flame that you regret, one option is to recall the email before the recipient reads it. Open your SENT ITEMS folder and then open your flaming message. Next, go to ACTIONS and click on “RECALL THIS MESSAGE.” If your message hasn’t been read, you can then choose to delete or replace the message with a new one.

But don’t count on this recall plan as a backup for your impulsiveness: Although Microsoft Outlook may tell you “No recipients have reported reading this message,” it could be that your readers don’t use Outlook. Or your readers may not be on your server. In fact, a website devoted to Outlook issues (https://www.msoutlook.info/question/recall-a-sent-message) notes that because of the necessary conditions it “hardly ever works as you want it to.” This author suggests another workaround: Change your settings to delay the transmission of messages by a set time. That delay will give you time to “think it over” and delete the message if you have a change of heart.

HONOR COPYRIGHTS AND UNDERSTAND WHAT EMAILS YOUR ORGANIZATION OWNS

The creator of a document holds the copyright—unless it’s a “work for hire.” That is, if you’re writing emails while earning a salary, your emails are “work for hire.” Your organization owns them.

From time to time, you probably receive emails from colleagues outside your organization that contain items not exactly work-related: chain letters, jokes, cartoons, a slide of startling statistics, a YouTube video, even a coworker’s personal rant, right?

If a coworker emails you an ezine story, speech script, or report without the copyright notification, beware. The sender may have cut and pasted it into their email without the original source, but that doesn’t mean the original document wasn’t copyrighted. Actually, it would be rare if the original writing was not copyright-protected.

You don’t have the right to pass on these copyrighted items someone sends without permission of the owner. If you didn’t create them, you don’t own them and can’t pass them on legally.

You’re liable for what you forward on company equipment and systems.

A speaker colleague reports that one of his growing revenue streams is settlement money collected as he prosecutes people and companies for unauthorized use of data and information lifted from his ezines, blogs, and website articles.

Ignorance is not a defense. If you forward documents sent to you by colleagues, you’re liable for copyright infringement. Infringement is a criminal act that results in more than a hand slap.

Many email users mistakenly think their use (forwarding) of a copyrighted white paper, video clip, report template, or ezine is permitted under the Fair Use clause of copyright law. They argue that no one is paying them for the document. And often, they have noble purposes for the material—training others or educating the public for charitable causes.

But the Fair Use clause in copyright law doesn’t necessarily permit such use. Four criteria determine fair use—and all four criteria must be met in each situation.

1.   Is the purpose of the challenged use commercial or nonprofit (educational, a health warning, a safety prevention alert)? (If you’re making money from someone else’s intellectual property, that’s going to be a problem.)

2.   Is the work the original author’s unique expression or just facts available to anyone? (Facts cannot be copyrighted. But someone’s unique presentation or organization of those facts can be copyrighted and protected.)

3.   How substantial is the length of the copied work in comparison to the whole document? (3 percent of the whole? 25 percent of the whole? 40 percent of the whole?) (If you’re quoting two sentences of someone’s 2,000-word white paper, they might not challenge you as long as you credit them as your source. But use three words of someone’s six-line tag phrase, and you’ll likely have an infringement lawsuit on your hands.)

4.   Does the effect of your use reduce the value of the original work to the author? Would your use deprive the author of potential income? (A “yes” answer here should tell you that you’re about to face a big fine.)

A court will consider all four issues before determining infringement and assessing penalties. To repeat: Fair use means you have to pass muster on all four criteria. Rarely in ordinary email traffic will you be legally free to forward copyrighted material. Even if you don’t claim ownership of the ideas or words and even if you acknowledge other sources, you may be liable for infringement.

Not only will the author be on your trail but likely so will others who have paid licensing fees for the material you are using and forwarding. Ignorance is not bliss. It’s a bellyache and a bulldozer over your bank account and career.

USE EOM AND FYI IN THE SUBJECT LINE

The acronym EOM stands for End of Message. Inserted at the end of a subject line, this >EOM allows readers to skim their inbox and read only the subject line without even opening the email.

Subject Line: Barrett Meeting on 7/8 Cancelled; They Lost Contract >EOM

Readers can rest assured that they got the entire message—clearly—and file, forward, or delete as appropriate.

FYI (For Your Information) inserted in the subject line allows the same courtesy: A short-cut decision about filing, forwarding, or deleting:

Subject Line: FYI: All Reviews on Model B298 Collected—No Action Needed

With such routine consideration for your reader’s time, your reputation for productivity will likely soar.

IDENTIFY STANDARD RESPONSE TIMES

Eighty percent of the participants in the UNC survey typically expect readers to respond to “important” emails within four hours or less; 59 percent expect a response within an hour or less.

What’s the standard response time expected in your organization: One hour? Four hours? Twenty-four hours? Are there exceptions? If so, what? If you don’t know, find out from your organizational leader. (If you are the leader, communicate the standard to your team.) Protect your personal brand by living up to the expectations set. Slow responses suggest many things—most of them negative.

•   You’re overwhelmed and can’t keep up with the pace.

•   You’re puzzled by the decision or action required.

•   Your system of handling daily inquiries is ineffective.

•   You have a staffing problem.

•   The situation, decision, or project is unimportant to you.

•   You need to gather more information or input before replying.

•   You need time to deliberate before responding.

Can you routinely afford to be considered the bottleneck?

FORWARD PERSONAL COMMENTS ONLY WITH PERMISSION

At the family reunion, what do you think of Aunt Bessie who has already “let everyone in on a little secret” that is not really hers to share? In other words, she shares the “secret” before the happy couple gets a chance to announce their engagement, before your niece gets to tell that she won a part in the school play, before your brother announces he’s moving to Singapore for an exciting new job?

Enough said. At work, let the owner of the news, policy, or announcement share it if they’re so inclined.

FOLLOW THE RULES OF ETIQUETTE

You don’t just show up at a wedding without being invited. Nor would you tell a party host that you had a lousy time and insist they never invite you again. Neither do you barge into a LinkedIn or Facebook group and start posting insults about other members—or at least, not for long. The administrator or other members will quickly oust you.

Almost every activity has social rules of acceptable behavior. Break them at your peril. Emailing differs in only one way—the consequences can be stiffer. Fail to follow the generally accepted rules on a daily basis and your reputation may be ruined until you move to a new position or organization and begin to interact with a new group of colleagues.

So learn what’s expected in your culture:

Respond to emails within the expected timeframe.

Acknowledge receipt of an email. If you can’t respond with all the information someone wants, at least let them know you got their email and when to expect a complete answer. Otherwise, you’re leaving them to wonder if the email went into your spam file or cyberspace. You’re setting yourself up to get reminders at the most inopportune times.

Avoid using the “return receipt requested” feature unless your aim is to document an enemy’s failure to perform.

EVALUATE THE PROS AND CONS OF EMOJIS

The use of emojis elicits strong reactions among a diverse audience. Two decades ago, in my earlier book on business writing (E-Writing: 21st-Century Tools for Effective Communication), I wrote that emoticons were unacceptable in formal business writing.

While that’s still true in formal emails going outside the organization, emojis have gained general acceptance in internal emails to colleagues. Emoji use in social media and texting has “overflowed” into the email channel. In fact, email marketers in some industries report higher response rates when they use emoticons.

But that’s not to say you should use them routinely in your emails. Consider the pros and cons:

The Pros in Using Emojis

•   Fast (a shortcut way to express yourself)

•   Fun (adds playfulness; cute, tongue-in-cheek, ironic, sarcastic)

•   Friendly (adds a touch of personality)

The Cons in Using Emojis

•   Immature/childish (as judged by many readers)

•   Inappropriately lighthearted for the situation or topic (insensitive)

•   Ambiguous (What does the expression mean exactly? Select your emoticon carefully.)

Bottom line: Give serious thought before using lighthearted emojis rather than expressing yourself in words.

SWIM IN THEIR CHANNEL, DON’T SWITCH

It’s not all about you. While you likely prefer one communication channel over the others, most other people have their favorite channel as well

In the UNC survey, respondents in all age groups (Millennials through Traditionalists) listed email communication as the most important method of communication for their work (48 percent of the respondents). Face-to-face communication ranked as the second most important method (18 percent). Phone calls were rated as the third most important way to communicate (17 percent), with texting as the fourth most important communication channel (7 percent). Instant messaging was significantly less important than other forms in all groups (ranked only slightly higher than video conferencing).

Some like the speed and ease of texting while others dislike texting because texts can’t be saved in their database and linked to a client record. Others prefer email because their messages run long, and typing on their phone becomes too tedious. Some like to phone for a quick back-and-forth discussion in real time to make a decision. Still others send a message through social media and are fine waiting for a few days until they get a response.

Obviously, it’s a temptation to move the discussion over to your preferred channel because it’s convenient and comfortable for you. But unless you’re the C-suite executive who gets to call the shots, don’t. Switching channels creates a ripple in the rapport you’ve built with that colleague or client.

Avoid annoying coworkers and clients by chasing them from channel to channel.

To someone who finds the new channel uncomfortable, switching in the middle of a discussion communicates the same message as “You live in the wrong neighborhood” or “You drive the wrong kind of car.”

AVOID SENDING DUPLICATE MESSAGES IN MULTIPLE CHANNELS

Granted, some people can be infuriatingly slow to respond to email. Just because email allows you to respond 24/7 at your convenience doesn’t mean you should. One person whom I’ve corresponded with through the years admits to being “the world’s worst about responding.” I agree with her self-assessment. Routinely, it takes her a couple of weeks to answer an email. Quite often, a couple of months!

When you must interact with these colleagues, you’re tempted to leave multiple messages in all channels: text, email, phone, social media. Most often, their reaction is annoyance.

If you’re getting slow responses in one channel, find out where they are and go there. (In the case of my colleague, I discovered that she operates almost exclusively on social media.)

USE MULTIPLE CHANNELS TO COMMUNICATE WITH A WIDESPREAD AUDIENCE

While it’s usually best to avoid duplicate messages on multiple channels, here’s the exception: When you need to communicate with a large audience, and they may not all be using the same channel.

In a survey of 1,200 US workers conducted by EmployeeChannel, Inc., workers at all levels reported that they desired the same thing: more frequent communication from their employer, specifically from their HR teams. Nearly half of the employees reported they felt “neutral, disagreed, or strongly disagreed” that the HR team’s communication efforts made them feel more informed or engaged at work. And a whopping 75 percent of the respondents said that HR communicates with them “never or rarely” or only “sometimes.”

Yet the corresponding HR teams and their organizations say they are firmly committed to open communication and invest huge time and effort in communicating with employees. Why the gap in perception and reality?

Sandy Yu, VP of marketing and product management at EmployeeChannel and author of the article published at TLNT.com, suggests this explanation for the gap: “Communications too often fail to reach employees.”⁴

The study goes on to reveal other puzzling data—puzzling at least to those emailers who want to solve this problem. Those same employees who reported that they wanted more communication from their organization were adamant about the channel—about what they did not want.

•   Only 16 percent wanted to receive an email

•   Fewer than 12 percent wanted in-person meetings

•   Only 5 percent wanted to be communicated with by phone

You can walk away with at least two conclusions from this study: (1) People say they want more communication, but they begrudge the time required. (2) People prefer different channels. No one size fits all.

So if you intend to push a message out to a wide audience, you’ll need to use a multichannel approach to see that it reaches everyone.

CHOOSE THE APPROPRIATE CHANNEL WHEN THE CHOICE IS YOURS

Remember that email may not be the best channel for the message you’re sending or the audience you want to reach. Evaluate both. Email is a good choice when:

•   You need to communicate with a large number of people quickly.

•   The message is not time-sensitive.

•   You want to document what you sent and when (such as a file copy for legal reasons).

•   The reader(s) may need the information for later reference—such as complex instructions.

•   The reader may want to forward your complex details or information to others.

Email is a poor choice for communicating when:

•   You need to negotiate details of a situation (deadlines, details, requests) that may change frequently as the discussion progresses.

[Talk.]

•   You want an immediate response.

[Either text or call.]

•   The message may be emotionally charged and the tone difficult to convey in writing.

[Either call or meet.]

•   You want to see the reaction to an emotional message to determine its effect.

[Meet.]

•   You want the recipient to have your message as a remembrance (commendation, anniversary, commemoration, recognition).

[Send a formal certificate, announcement, or letter.]

•   You want to create impact about the serious nature of a situation (a warning about termination, a threat of lawsuit).

[Write a formal letter.]

•   The information is highly confidential and/or could create legal liability. (Others can forward an email without your knowledge, alter or omit words, or change its meaning by dropping the email into a different context.)

[Meet.]

•   •   •

Email can boost your productivity tremendously—but only if you manage it rather than let it lock you into poor communication habits. Now you have the keys to freedom. Run with them.