As we started our morning meeting - the first topic was an email
“sent outside of these four walls, which will NEVER happen again.”
I felt personally attacked and publicly humiliated as I doubled over from the verbal sucker punch to the gut.
“We have to protect the team at all costs.”
From what?
I mentally asked myself how can a well-meaning email go so wrong? (after wtf)
Good or bad, your email has an impact on the reader.
Whether you want to inform or entertain, the reader decides how to respond.
Don’t underestimate the power of an email.
You can’t predict:
If they’re having a bad day
Frustrated from lack of sleep
Trying to hide something
You have to decide how you move forward. It’s different for a newsletter, if you say something offensive, the reader will unsubscribe. They weren’t your true audience, and you have to learn that you can’t please everyone.
But if this is a work email, you have changes to make with limited choices.
Don’t bring up the issue again
Let them continue as they are
Wait until they ask your opinion
None of these are great options when you’re passionate about your job. But they’re necessary.
What’s the solution?
Sometimes, you have to let others fail.
We can’t know what others are thinking or why they react as they do. I gave up on my crystal ball years ago. We can only do the next right thing and move forward.
Have I recovered from the sucker punch to the gut?
It’s still a strong memory that I won’t forget anytime soon. But I can’t let someone else’s poor judgment define how I live, and neither can you.
Some say I’m stubborn, and I can’t disagree. However, when you set high standards, you expect the same from others. If you perceive someone has escalated an issue, perhaps you should talk to the person first and investigate.
What’s the takeaway?
You don’t spend hours writing one work email; no one has that kind of time. You want to be concise and get your point across while considering the reader’s time.
You don’t want your reader to feel attacked.
Ask yourself, what could I have done differently?
Instead, present the problem and solve it for them
Unlike writing a piece of copy, you’d prefer to omit the agitate portion, but sometimes it’s unavoidable.
Just don’t make it intentional.