Money
At the office, you probably know not to outwardly trash a coworker’s idea or talk smack about your boss when he’s in earshot. But email isn’t quite as intuitive.
It’s easier to have a message misconstrued when the person you’re chatting with can’t read your facial expressions, or hear your tone of voice. If you veer into a conversational gray area, like disapproval of a policy, or a joke at a coworker’s expense, things can get hairy fast.
“Your professional email, much like your desk and chair, belongs to the company you work for,” says Denise Dudley, career coach and author of Work it! Get in, Get Noticed, Get Promoted. “Emails live forever, and you don’t want to go on record saying something that could haunt you later.”
