E-mail Etiquette and Discretion

Discretion:

Freedom to act or judge on one’s own

Knowing how to avoid embarrassment or distress

Refined taste; tact

The power of making free choices unconstrained by external agencies

The trait of judging wisely and objectively

O.K., so based on the above, one can easily surmise how much discretion comes into play when it comes to your e-mail activities. Just a few examples off the top of my head of not using discretion properly:

Forwarding a private e-mail sent to you to others from someone who trusts you without the sender’s knowledge.
Forwarding “warm and fuzzy” e-mails that state to “Send to Everyone You Know” with e-mail addresses exposed in the To: field.
Sending attachments without the courtesy of asking first.

I can go on and on. Today, I received several e-mails asking for my advice and help in matters that are purely up to discretion. If there is one thing I’ve learned in my 17 years online, is you cannot control other’s behavior. Nor can you control whether they have or will use their discretion in their online activities.

When it comes to discretion, I do believe that those who fail to use their discretionary powers reap negative results. Folks who do not think before they do, by using discretion, more times than not lack common sense, courtesy and in some cases education.

Let other’s use of discretion or lack thereof speak for themselves. The only one you can control is you!

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Comments

Becky Warren says:

July 22, 2010 at 4:18 pm

Hi,
My name is Becky and I agree with you about using discretion in emails. The more I learn about email etiquette, the more positive responses I get from co-workers and friends!

Thank you for bringing up the topic.

Becky Warren

- Judith says:
  
  July 23, 2010 at 10:31 am
  
  Hey, Becky:
  
  Thanks for stopping by and for your kind words! If you think about it e-mail etiquette is all about perception, right? Write like you are a courteous and educated individual and that is how you will be perceived!
  
  If you want to really understand the eNuances of Business E-mail communications, stop by my Business E-mail Etiquette site which is chock full of business info!
  
Kruno says:

October 20, 2010 at 6:55 am

Hello,

If I may, I would like some help regarding an email etiquete dispute. My boss forwarded an email for me to reply, which she got from her superior – big boss. I replyed leaving the original message and other forwarding detail – who and when. I left out comments made by my boss and big boss.
Is this OK or I should have left out all forwarding information, except the original message.

Thank you!
Kruno

- Judith says:
  
  October 21, 2010 at 2:46 pm
  
  Hey, Kruno:
  
  Thanks for stopping by! In business, sometimes it is a judgement call to leave everything in place at the bottom of your reply for documentation purposes. This tends to apply to very serious issues such as legal matters.
  
  But as a general rule, down-editing your e-mails to only include the part(s) of the e-mail you are directly replying to lends to clarity in your communications and helps to avoid misunderstandings. I have an article you may find helpful: How to Down Edit Your E-mails.
  
  I also have an entire site where we discuss Business E-mail Etiquette issues — why not check it out?
  
  HTH!