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See what other Tripod members have said about nagging e-mail. And see how members responded to the last survey about Maternity Leave.For past survey results, check our survey archive.
98spc_2: In this day of electronic communication via e-mail, everyone has to get good at "reading" e-mail. When I say "reading" e-mail, I mean reading enough of each message to know whether it's important enough to continue reading or respond to. Your boss is definately abusing e-mail, but probably just because she's a lousy manager, not because she's a bad e-mailer. I'd say just ignore it if at all possible. If she sends any really offensive messages, you can always collect them and forward them to her boss if you want to stop the problem entirely. That's the other beauty of e-mail: she can't deny that she sent them because the computer never lies.cbrady: The worst thing is email which is blatantly sent out to people who don't have a need to see it (i.e. junk email). Or email from people trying to convince you to buy their product or service. Not too bad on the internet, but you get A LOT of this crap when you're on services like AOL.
Toad: Your boss is a *****!! If she is sending you e-mail messages to harass you, ignore them!! I think that someone needs to make an e-mail censor!! It would make EVERYONE a lot happier!!
strawbridge: Due to the immediate nature of the beast, I admit to sending updates to others in my organization. In effect, this is "electronic nagging" but it does not interrupt one's work such as much as a personal visit to your office, phone call, knock on your cubicle for the same purpose. I deal with similar communications from others with a sense of patience and (hopefully) some autonomy.
Image: Although this may not help prevent your co-workers from reminding you of your obligations (which may be to everyone's advantage, anyway), there is something I do that makes my life a little easier regarding email. I have set up another email address that I use whenever I subscribe to listservers or in any other context where I don't personally know the individual or business requesting it. That way, when your address inevitably finds it's way into the hands of someone who will use it to annoy, I find the junk mail easy to ignore and to deal with. One of the people who wrote earlier mentioned using AOL. With AOL you can do this by having a second private screen name that they only give out to friends. Or, talk to your ISP about a second mail file under your account name. A lot depends on where you get your email, but the moral is that two (or more) addresses can make your life a little better.
Moran: Why don't you tell this boss of yours exactly what you just told us. Perhaps they will say, "Oh I am sorry I shan't do it again." Or maybe they will say, "I am spineless, gutless, wimp -- and you are right, I can only vent my anger through electronic means. Oh, and you are fired." Careful of that last one, though.
Kristi2u: If you are requested by e-mail to do a certain duty that applies to your job and you haven't come through, when your boss questions you about this, you can tell her that you are sorry, you haven't had time to check your box. After a few times, she might see that e-mail is not a sufficient way to inform you of what you need to know. And if trouble arises from this, you're not the one that was supposed to deliver the messages in a prompt and orderly fashion...she was. Point being, you never got that message... Right?
Twinfinity: The hideous part of this lies in the interoffice email systems (cc:Mail, MS Mail, etc.) that have a "Receipt" option that sends an acknowledgement to the sender when you open the mail to read it. I've never seen a system like this that lets you switch off receipt-sending. The message looks like a normal memo sitting in your emailbox, but when you open it, there's that "SENDING RECEIPT" dialog. Fortunately, my boss doesn't use the receipt, but some of the higher execs in my company use it all the time. I'm not sure why, because their mailboxes must be full of receipts.
On the subject of scolding, hey -- learn creative shirking. Nothing is quite as effective as a well-crafted statement of ignorance (witness any Congressional committee hearing) or a careful obfuscation, and email is the prime strategic medium for this because you can compose and edit your responses to perfection. Heck, I LIKE being able to answer back to accusations in email. If you're not a screaming a-hole in person, email provides that attitudeless air of confidence you need for delivering a good comeback with a straight face. And besides, YOU don't have to get off YOUR ass, either.
Alexxia: If, as in the above situation, the person doing the nagging is in a short distance, open the mail. If it seems like a scolding, rather than wasting your time reading all of it, go to his/her office and ask what the problem is and make sure that there is nothing else that needs to be said, therefore, HOPEFULLY avoiding any more rashes of user-unfriendly e-mail.
PRossiter: Try to explain to your boss that you are capable to do your job and you don't need 9 squillion messages.
GeekNET: I think that the person quoted in the survey story needs to step back and re-think his position... if he were doing anywhere near a competent job then his boss would not have to send all of those reminders, questions, and suggestions. Maybe this person is just a slacker, after all, his boss is just taking advantage of technology to make her job easier. Maybe he should try to do the same -- just my opinion, of course.
suhopkins: Luckily I read very fast, so if it is annoying, it is only annoying for a few seconds...I usually read one or two "terse comments" and just dump the rest...if my boss wants to be sure I am doing something, crying "Wolf" isn't going to make it...he/she KNOWS I won't read stupid things very often...
slaphappy: To whom it may concern: If your boss gives you harassing e-mail, mabye you should go to a court and claim she is puting your job in a hostile environment. And if that doesn't work, you can always ignore it!
EduardoSVR: I guess some people just get so enthused about the idea of e-mail they give others an overdose of messages. That may be happening to your boss. Remember -- it's a great communication tool, and you may be jumping to the conclusion that she is just thinking this is good for controlling your advance. You could send her an e-mail back (after all, there's the vengeance at hand) telling her how you're accomplishing your goals and including some of her suggestions (playing the fool here does REALLY help).
Jendoll: I think she should send her boss the same kind of nagging e-mail. This way her boss might realize how annoying and time consuming her little pieces of e-mail are. However if this doesn't work then maybe she should just not read them and do her work instead.
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