Do you Dread Opening Your Office Mailbox?

What thoughts cross your mind when you walk into your office in the morning, switch on your desktop or laptop and log into the mailbox? Do you feel excited and happy? Or do you feel afraid and anxious? Or do you dread opening your office mailbox?

If you dread opening your office mailbox, then welcome to the community of those who receive “negative” e-mails. These negative e-mails are almost always from negative and unprofessional colleagues in the workplace.

Following list provides an indicative list of characteristics of negative e-mails. This list also gives a clear insight into those who send such emails.

• Email points fingers at you for something that was a miss or a mistake from your side in a very crude, sarcastic and demeaning manner. The persons sending such emails would essentially try to act smart in their emails. After few emails of such nature from such persons you will know the ‘smart types’ in the system. The way an email is worded goes a long way in creating positive energy and vibes. However, such persons fail to realize this and are driven by a strong desire to undermine others efforts and contributions.
• Email is written with a hidden agenda to prove a point with a mischievous intention or show the sender’s superiority in a certain sense or to show you ‘your lowly place’ in the organization. After few emails of such nature from such persons you will know the ‘trouble makers’ in the system.  Such persons carry a grudge on their shoulders. This grudge could be purely against you at the personal level (they might secretly hate you for something you may not even be aware of) or such persons have attitude issues and they are like this with everyone else or they have personal issues which have over flown into their professional lives.
• Email is written with it being copied to additional people who may not be relevant to the context of the email. Such persons have the habit of always marking someone higher up in the hierarchy or someone you report into in a strange, abrupt way (while trying to rationalize why they did so).  Another strong reason for them to do so is their being highly conscious of their designation or position – how can they communicate with employees lower in designation to them but communicating to them as if they are at par with them in terms of designation. After few emails of such nature from such persons you will know the ‘hierarchy conscious folks’ in the system. 

In any case, one needs to exercise extreme care and tact when dealing with such ‘smart types’, ‘trouble makers’ and ‘hierarchy conscious folks’ in the system. Whenever an email from such persons lands in your mailbox your first reaction would always be “trouble on the way” or “did I miss anything” or “did I do anything wrong”.

That’s why it is all the more important that while dealing with such negative and invariably unprofessional persons you stay extremely positive and professional. It is a fact that such persons will be a constant pain in your neck (and many more necks) and would certainly make you dread opening your office mailbox.