Know that guy who accidentally hits Reply All on an e-mail chain, and sends all recipients into an uproar?
We prefer the guy who purposely hits Reply All to go wide and share useful information.
E-mail sucks, but we know many people prefer to use it, even though they shouldn’t. Participate and make those conversations more useful.
- Know your audience. Before dropping the Reply All bomb, do a quick CC: line inspection. Who are the senior folks? Who from your higher headquarters, or outside your organization?
- Message this audience. When you key the mic during your Command and Staff meetings, you do so with something the entire organization needs to hear you say. Reply All is your virtual conference room, so offer a communications-focused perspective for everyone to keep in mind.
- In your note, acknowledge up front you are abusing Reply All on purpose. “Team, using Reply All here with some insight on the messaging strategy,” or “Adding Bobo, Petunia and the XCOM PA staff to this traffic for their insights. Here’s what we know now.”
- “But what if I say something wrong and lose credibility?” Correct yourself as soon as possible, and keep the conversation rolling. Or rely on someone else to correct you. When you aren’t sure about something call out the person on the CC: line who will know the right answer.
- Always, always, always, always include your own team. Condition all organization members to never, ever send an e-mail to you unless your team distribution list is on the CC: line.
E-mail sucks, but since we’re on it, might as well make sure everyone knows everything.
(Photo be Cpl. James Trevino, DVIDS)
