Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Sending emails after midnight? Don’t even think about it!

EMAIL MANAGEMENT

By Marsha Egan

Some corporate email senders may think they impress their bosses, peers or subordinates by sending emails in the middle of the night. The truth is, while occasional 3:00am emails may be "forgiven," repeated early morning emails will not be.

Not convinced? Just turn the tables and note your reaction when you see the time stamp of a received email at some ungodly hour!

The boss could wonder...

  • Why is Jim up at 4:00am, regularly? Is he getting enough sleep? Is he in control? Is he stressed out? Is he out of balance?
  • Is Rebecca just trying to impress me? Does she think that I value this behavior? Doesn't she know how to delay the sending of the email to a "normal" hour?
  • What part of "have a balanced life" doesn't he understand?

Your co-workers might say...

  • There Avish goes again, trying to impress the boss. What a manipulator.
  • No wonder Sally isn't with it during the day. She's not getting enough sleep.
  • How can he be thinking clearly at 2:00am?
  • Does this mean I have to get up and check my email, since Harry does it?

And from your direct reports...

  • Yikes. My boss is emailing me at 3:00am! I wonder if he expects me to do that too?!
  • I better check my email first thing in the morning; the boss may have sent me something again in the middle of the night. How's that for wake up stress?
  • What's the matter with her!? Is she losing it? Why can't my boss get a good night's sleep?
  • Does this mean I need to have my BlackBerry wake me in the middle of the night?
  • Since he's working 24/7, I assume I should also. God, I hate my job.

In addition to these unhealthy perceptions, you're taking a real risk creating an email message when you haven't had a full night's sleep. You may not be running on all cylinders. We've all regretted sending an email when we were wide-awake and functioning during the day. Sending in a sleepy state increases the potential for misconstrued messages.

If you are a true night owl or on the computer in the early AM, compose a message and save it. Don't send it till you've had a chance to review it in the light of day. I can almost guarantee that you'll make changes that you'll be glad you had the opportunity to make.

Make it a rule to never send an email message when you should be sleeping. Your career, your co-workers, and your employees will be all the better for it.

Marsha Egan, CPCU, PCC, ICF-Certified Coach is CEO of Reading, PA-based consultancy The Egan Group, Inc. and author of Inbox Detox and the Habit of E-Mail Excellence (Acanthus 2009). Marsha's strategies have helped business leaders across the country Master the People Side of Business Growth, enabling greater profitability through increased productivity. Evaluate your own email habits with her free assessment at http://EganEmailSolutions.com/email-assess.html.