Five rude emails you send without realizing it

Five rude schmelzglass you send without realizing itFive rude emails you send without realizing itEven the most likeable and well-mannered among us can still look like jerks in an email. Writing an email that comes across just like you do in person is a fine art.During a conversation, you adjust your tone, facial expression, gestures and posture in order to fit the mood of what youre conveying. You do this because people tend to be much mora responsive tohowyou say things than towhatyou actually say.Email strips a conversation bare. Its efficient, but it turns otherwise easy interactions into messy misinterpretations. Without facial expressions and body posture to guide your message, people look at each word you type as an indicator of tone and mood.Most of the mistakes people make in their emails are completely avoidable. The following list digs into these subtle mistakes and hidden blunders.Ladders is now on SmartNewsDownload the SmartNews app and add the Ladders channel to read th e latest career news and advice wherever you go.The compulsive CC And Reply AllCCing people all the time is one of the most annoying things you can do via email. Id say its the most annoying, but this honor is bestowed upon the excessive reply all. If someone sends an email to you and a bunch of other people, do you really think every recipient needs to get another email from you saying thanks? They dont, and when you do this, it sends people climbing up a wall.The trick for knowing when to CC someone is to treat your email as if its an in-person meeting. The question then becomes this Would it be necessary or helpful to have this person come to the meeting? If the answer is no, then dont waste his or her time with an email. As for reply all, just dont do it. Even if someone else in the thread replies all, youre still annoying everyone to death when you join the fray. If you have something to say, its better to send this directly (and privately) to the original sender and let him or her decide if the group should know about it too.The way-too-briefAll too often, the cause of email conflict is an imbalance between the effort in the initial email and the effort in the response to that email. When someone types up a detailed paragraph outlining important issues, they expect you to respond carefully. Sending back Got it or Noted just doesnt do the trick. Without knowledge of your intent and tone, brief responses come across as apathetic and even sarcastic to the receiver. This is unfortunate because this is rarely the senders intent.The best way to avoid being misinterpreted in a brief response is to share your intent. Even responding with Im a little busy but should be able to read it later this week comes across much better than Got it, which a lot of people will interpret as indifference.The URGENT subject lineSubject lines that say URGENT or ASAP show complete disregard for the recipient. If your email is that urgent, pick up the phone and give the person a ca ll. Even in the rare instance when an email actually is urgent, labeling it as such in the subject line is unnecessary and sets a strong, negative tone.The key to avoiding URGENT subject lines is twofold. First, if the issue is best dealt with in any form other than email, then thats how you should be dealing with it. Second, if this is not the case, then the issue lies in your ability to create a strong subject line. After all, people check their email frequently, so as long as your subject line catches their eye, it will get the job done. Instead of labeling the email as urgent, ask yourself why the email is urgent. The answer to this question is your new subject line. If a client needs an answer today, then simply make your subject line Client Needs Response Today. This maintains the sense of urgency without setting a rude, desperate tone.The Debbie downerSending emails that consistently tell people what they do wrong and what they shouldnt be doing really takes a toll. Even if y ou are trying to offer constructive criticism, you need to avoid negativity in your emails at all costs. Since people are unable to hear your tone directly, they read into the connotations of words and create a tone in their head as they go along. Negatives become especially negative in email form.Whenever you find yourself using negative words like dont, cant, wont or couldnt, turn them into positives. Making this change transforms the entire tone of the message. For example, instead of saying, You cant complete reports like this in the future, say, Next time you complete a report, please When you must deliver negative feedback, dont do it in an email. Just hop on the telephone or walk down the hall.The robotIts easy to think of email as a way to get something done quickly, but when you do this to the extreme, you come across as inhuman. You wouldnt walk into someones office and hand them a report to do without acknowledging them somehow. Jumping straight into the nitty-gritty migh t seem like the most effective thing to do, but it leaves a lasting negative impression.Fixing this one is simple. Just take an extra second to greet the person youre writing to. You dont have to ask your recipient about his or her weekend. Just a simple acknowledgment of the individual as a human being is all it takes. This keeps the tone much more respectful than it would be if you were to simply send assignments.Bringing it all togetherThe trickiest thing about emailing is making certain that people perceive your message the way you intend them to. You must be socially aware to pull this off. That is, be willing to take the time to consider how things look from your recipients perspective before you hit send.Travis Bradberryis the co-author ofEmotional Intelligence 2.0and the cofounder ofTalentSmart.This article first appeared at LinkedIn.

Top Six Workplace Fears

Top Six Workplace FearsTop Six Workplace FearsLets face it, when it comes to finding or holding onto a job these days, it pays to prepare for the unexpected. When we meet with clients who are in the process of looking for a job, we see a lot of underlying stress about finding a good one but there are other stress factors that happen even after they have found a job.The fear of being fired ranks as the number one workplace fear for employees.But its bedrngnis the only one. Many younger people also experience a sense of disappointment when work doesnt live up to their expectations.Graduatesstart their career in law or finance expecting a high-flying, glamorous life-style, and end up despondent when they are filling in spreadsheets until 2am.Here are some of the most common workplace fearsWorking in fear. When you work in a fearful environment, you know it because you feel anxious about going to work. You have aggressive and/or bullying bosses. They might not even be loud. In fact most aggressive bosses are very quiet and able to manipulate people. The problem with a fearful environment is that people stop being creative it becomes survive instead of thrive.Im never going to make it. Most young people come into an organization after graduating from college with very big expectations and soon find themselves disappointed with the day to day drudgery of their first job. They get this underlying fear that life will never live up to their expectations.Fear of being shouted at. People get into their jobs for the most part because they are good at what they do. We see a lot of managers who get promoted but have no clue how to manage people. This can quickly turn into fear because they themselves are afraid of being shouted at or they become the bully and use shouting as a way to control people. In both cases they might get immediate results but over time they destroy a sense of self and ruin creativity.Fear of retaliation. Every organization has its political side and can be very detrimental. One of the biggest fears for new hires is not being part of the group. Good organizations help to build those relationships through team building. Yes, some people really hate these two words but it does help build relationships for the newbies and helps them establish a friendly work environment where they feel part of the cool kids.Being seen as a slacker. Unfortunately this has been going on for many years. There are people who are afraid to take a lunch break or even go to the bathroom for fear of being seen as a slacker. Thankfully, there is a new culture taking place within organizations run by young people that recognize the importance of taking breaks and fostering a healthy work schedule.What are some of your workplace fears? We would love to hear from you in the comments below

Situational Interview Questions and Tips for Answering

Situational Interview Questions and Tips for AnsweringSituational Interview Questions and Tips for AnsweringLike abehavioral interview, during situational interview candidates are asked specific questions about what may happen on a job. The candidate is asked to assess a situation and to provide solutions on how he or she would handle it. In many cases, situation based interview questions involveproblem-solvingand handling difficult issues and circumstances in the workplace. You can share some details about how you anticipate you would respond to the situation, but the best answers to situational interview questions provide concrete examples of how you handled a similar situation on the job. That way, yure providing the interviewer with solid information on how you would handle the situation. What to Include in Your Answer Your main goal in responding to the questions in a situational interview is to describe a similar experience in the past. To do this, use a version of the STAR technique. Thats an acronym that stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result. For a situational interview, youll sub in problem for task, and talk about the issue that went awry. By framing your response this way, youll avoid rambling and stay focused in your response. Here are the parts youll want to include in your answer What was the situation?Before launching into what you did, take the time to describe the situation. Include the kind of company, what was at stake, and what the process was. For example, a description of the situation could be, In my past role, I was in dienstgrad of a major veranstaltung, one of our biggest fundraisers of the year. It typically had hundreds of guests and brought in thousands of dollars for the organization. It was my job to plan the event, including securing the venue and guest speaker. What went wrong?Describe what went wrong and how it happened. Was it something avoidable, or was it an unexpected crisis? Using the above example, you could say, Just three days before the event, our keynote speaker became ill and canceled on us. Our speaker is the biggest draw for the event, so not having her was disastrous. If we canceled the event, we would lose thousands of dollars, but if we didnt have a speaker, we risked angering our audience.What action did you take?Describe not only what action you took, but your rationale behind it and how you identified solutions. For instance, I conferred with my boss, and we discussed our options. Canceling the event was out of the question, we would lose too much money, so our only option was to find a new speaker. I spent the next ten hours on the phone non-stop, calling ever speakers bureau in the region and sending emails to everyone I knew who could help. It was grueling, but the work paid off. What were the results?Highlight what you accomplished and how it helped the overall project. My persistence ended up working. After chasing down one company, I was able to secure a new speaker for t he same cost we were going to pay the original one. We sent out a communication letting attendees know about the change and highlighted the achievements of our new speaker. It turned out to be our best event yet we earned $10,000 more than we did the year prior. As you respond to questions, keep in mind the core skills and abilities that are required for the position. Try to use your responses to show that you are a good fit. The following are examples of situational interview questions, along with sample answers and tips on the best way to answer. Sample Situational Interview Questions and Answers If you know your boss is 100% wrong about something how would you handle it? -Best AnswersDescribe a difficult work situation/project and how you overcame it. -Best AnswersWhat problems have you encountered at work? Describe how you dealt with them. -Best AnswersDescribe a challenge or problem you faced. How did you handle it? -Best AnswersDescribe a time when your workload was heavy and how you handled it. -Best Answers