Stupid Email Mistakes: Urgency, Medium Choice, CC Actions, and Task Assignment

Mistake 1: Using Email for Urgent Communication

• 🚨 Email is never the right medium for urgent or time-sensitive communication.
• ⚠️ Marking an email as 'urgent' or using all caps/red text does not make it so; it's a misleading practice.
• 📞 For immediate attention, face-to-face conversation or a phone call is necessary, not email.
• 🗣️ Voicemails can convey urgency and additional context that emails cannot.

Mistake 2: Choosing Email Over Other Mediums

• 📧 Email is inappropriate for complex, complicated, or difficult subjects that could be misunderstood.
• 🚫 It's also unsuitable for repeated follow-ups, delivering bad news (like layoffs), or providing feedback.
• 🤝 Email does not build relationships, making it a poor choice for sensitive interpersonal communication.
• 💬 For subjects that cause a 'pit in your stomach,' in-person or video communication is essential, with email as a follow-up.

Mistake 3: Actions in Emails for CC'd Recipients

• 📌 If an action is required from someone, their name must be in the 'To' line, not the 'CC' line.
• 📄 The 'CC' field historically meant 'carbon copy' for filing, not for action or even necessarily reading.
• 📂 Many people set up email rules to sort CC'd emails into separate folders, assuming they don't require action.

Mistake 4: Tasks Without Assignees or Deadlines

• 🎯 Tasks in emails must clearly state who is responsible (assignee) and by when (deadline).
• 🤷 Vague emails asking for tasks to be done without specifying an assignee lead to tasks not being completed or done late.
• 🎾 This is likened to the 'tennis doubles problem,' where neither player takes action if it's unclear who should.
• ⏰ Deadlines drive behavior; without them, tasks are deprioritized and may never get done.

Checklist and Next Steps

• ✅ A checklist is provided to help users avoid these common email mistakes.
• 🗓️ Future segments will cover additional 'stupid email mistakes' beyond the initial six.