BE CIRCUMSPECT WHEN USING EMAILS

The Justin Milne resignation reminds me of just how dangerous written communication, especially email communication, can be. Once written and sent, retrieval of this express written word is impossible. It is out there forever and can come back to impact days, weeks, months, years and even decades later.

Everyone is encouraged to send emails about everything these days and that is often unwise.

Emails can be written and sent at any time of the day or night. This can happen when people are dead tired, less than sober, in the heat of anger and at other in opportune times.

I often preferred phone conversations to emailed replies. Written words can be misconstrued, their intention misinterpreted, or can be forwarded on by recipients to people for whom they were not intended.

There is a place for emails but care in their usage is important and often insufficiently considered by senders. Careless use of the ‘send’ button can exacerbate (inflame) situations if the message is inadvertently sent to the wrong receiver.

Emails may seem to be a simple and easy communications tool to use. However they can be on too many occasions, fraught with unintended consequences for senders.