I dislike when people misuse “Reply All” when sending e-mails. It is a useful tool when you are distributing information to a select group of people with whom you have already interacted. Unfortunately, many people just use it in the stead of “Reply.” The most grievous of all e-mail sins is not looking at the recipients before you hit send.
Nothing is worse than when somebody sends a congratulatory e-mail to the entire company about a personnel announcement. I don’t need to know that you are happy they are “on the team.”
I am proposing a solution through a three strike “reply all” rule (I think it should only be 2 steps, but I will be more forgiving):
- Polite reminder that this should only be done when copied people need to know the information
- Written reprimand and 6 months e-mail probation
- Termination if committed again during the 6 month probationary period
The option to “Reply All” for business e-mails should require a checked confirmation (e.g. “Are you sure you want to send it to all these people?”). This could be added to Microsoft Office, and it would justify a new version # from that individual feature.
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