By Marsha Egan
Email is here to stay. Despite all the fuss about social networking, email is still the primary communication tool in business. If you are looking to destroy your career through your email practices, here are a few ways you can move the process along!
Career suicide tip #1
Send an angry email. Take out your frustration on your boss or your co-worker by email. Send your first draft without reviewing it. And don't forget to copy at least ten people. This is a great way to have career limiting documentation easily placed in your file.
Career suicide tip #2
Waste peoples' time. The more you annoy people by creating extra work through a myriad of bonehead maneuvers like sending unnecessary emails, forgetting attachments, and inserting HUGE graphics, the less they will think of your business communications skills.
Career suicide tip #3
Forward lengthy chain emails, saying "see below." A great way to call attention to your lack of respect for the receiver is to forward an email that has at least 10 previously forwarded emails contained in it. This forces the recipient to have to read through all 10 to try to figure out what is important.
Career suicide tip #4
"Throw a co-worker under the bus" by email. When one of your co-workers makes a mistake, be sure to document it for posterity by email. Either call the co-worker out by email and copy his or her boss, or even better, do it behind their back. You'll be labeled as a snake and end your career quite quickly.
Career suicide tip #5
Send poorly written emails. Use improper grammar, spelling and punctuation. Use run on sentences. Make sure you don't use spell check. Anyone receiving you email messages will get a quick first impression that you're not serious about your career.
Career suicide tip #6
Use text lingo in business emails. This will definitely show your maturity and lack of respect for the recipient. IYKWIM. LOL
Career suicide tip #7
Bury the point of your communication in the middle of the message. By making it very hard for people to find what it is you are trying to convey, you will be sure to make a name for yourself in all your business circles.
Career suicide tip #8
Reply All. All the time. Hitting "reply all" consistently will earn you great disrespect among your co-workers. As the resentment builds from all the unnecessary emails they receive from you, your career credibility is sure to wane.
Career suicide tip #9
Copy as many people as you can. By adding many extra recipients, you might think you're communicating, but what you're really doing is adding more work to peoples' already full plates. They may not catch on to this one right away, but over time, you won't be able to hide.
