I recently stumbled across a humourous and relatable About.com article, contributed by personal productivity expert and popular workshop leader, Peggy Duncan. The article is a list of email pet peeves that she collected from attendees of her seminars and via her web site. While the post was published back in 2011, I still find the points relevant and poignant.
Here are a bunch of my favourites:
- People trying to solve complex issues using email. You’re part of a new committee, then the email messages start, back and forth, dizzying speed, the more they come, the more confused you get. Pick up the phone!
- Last-minute cancellations. Canceling a meeting at the last minute and letting me know via email. I show up, “Oh, didn’t you get my e-mail?” When did you send it? I left my office two hours ago, and now my whole day is shot.
- One-liners. “Thanks,” “Oh, OK.” My goodness! You sent an email message to 25 people, and 15 of them sent you a one-liner. Next time, put “No Reply Necessary” at the top.
- Read receipt. As if you’re checking up on me to see if I open your message. I don’t know why people waste time doing this because most people probably have this feature turned off in their email program.
- Abuse of my email address. I register for an event, then every week, I’m getting notices of deals, webinars, teleseminars, etc.
- Bad grammar and punctuation. You can’t hide behind an administrative assistant to clean up your act, so go take some classes and learn how to write and spell. Some messages are so bad, it’s like reading a foreign language, and it wastes my time trying to figure out your mess.
- Unprofessional email IDs. People who would send a business email message using addresses that begin with names such as cutesuzy, beingblessed, or hardliquor, and so on.
If you liked these, read the full article. You can also learn more about Peggy and her work by visiting www.PeggyDuncan.com
