Work Notes
Email or face-to-face?
For personal issues, should you talk to the boss or send an email?
Angiela Herbers, a consultant for financial planning firms, recommends in-person conversations about personal matters.
This is especially true if you are asking for an exception to policy: More vacation time, a later start time, extension of a project, or a special request.
For one thing, email can be misunderstood and, if your email is misunderstood, it's impossible to correct.
And, remember, that misunderstood email creates a permanent record. All email creates a permanent record, which is important to remember if you are angry or disappointed.
Imagine this scenario:
A person has landed a job but before her first day she emails that she must work from home. Added to this demand, she supports her case by saying if she has to work in the office she will have a panic/asthma attack and have to be taken to the hospital.
In effect, she has just written a resignation letter, stating that she is unwilling to work where the job is required and physically unable to take the job. The company has an email to prove it.
Herbers also points out that angry email builds a case against the employee themselves.
Conclusion: Always speak to the boss in person about important employment issues.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.
