by A reader who doesn’t wish to provide his name (for reasons that soon will become apparent) has a problem with office etiquette. He writes:
My company has a few different divisions and each division has its own group email list that includes everyone within that division. There’s also a company-wide address. The problem is that every so often we hire a new person or the company softball teams wins a game and these group addresses are used to send out strings of “Welcome” or “Woo-hoo!!!” messages and the endless replies from these things bombard my inbox. I find this really distracting. Any way to stop it?
I’m big on education as a means for short-circuiting problems like these. If you can find a way to politely inform the company’s employees that their email client has both Reply and Reply All buttons and (explain the difference between them and how annoying this kind of public backslapping can be), I’d consider that a good first step.
However, this may just be an example of the company’s cultural divide. Some groups are big on praise and public high-fives. For them these messages are motivational and show a plucky team spirit. Let on that you find these things a waste of time and you may be looked on as someone whose heart isn’t really invested in the company. And that may show up on your next employee evaluation if your boss or boss’ boss is one of these unrepentant Reply All-ers. In such cases I’m more inclined to post anonymous “For The Love O’ Pete, Learn To Use Reply All Correctly!” notes in the staff kitchens and restrooms.
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