It’s happened at countless workplaces across the country. Someone, on purpose or by accident, sends an email to the entire office and people start replying…to every person on the list. Inevitably, angry co-workers also start replying to everyone, chiding those who hit “reply-all.†Inboxes overflow with message after message.
Annoying yes, but cause for disciplinary action?
It could be if you work at the State Department, which was recently hit by a similar scenario that got so bad it nearly crippled the department’s unclassified email system. Now, according to a cable obtained by the Associated Press, senior department officials are threatening to punish anyone who uses the “reply-all†function on emails to large distribution lists.
The cable, written by Undersecretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy, did not define what disciplinary actions could be taken against those who decide to “reply all†to emails. But he does instruct managers to tell their employees of “the negative impact of hitting ‘reply all’†and directs employees to simply delete emails received in error rather than responding to them.
“Anyone who disregards these instructions will be subject to disciplinary actions,” Kennedy wrote. No word yet on whether anyone deiced to reply all to the boss.
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After listening to all the customer stories I have heard over the years, I guarantee it will happen again. There are tools to prevent this – Permessa for instance, or our own Reply To All Monitor (http://www.SperrySoftware.com/Outlook/Reply-To-All-Monitor.asp). It seems a bit harsh to enforce disciplinary action for an error that technology can correct.
– Mike Sperry
It certainly can’t be any worse that the shinanigans that go on at the field office of the FRA in Crum Lynne, Pa.
Female employees very seductively invite their male co workers out to lunch to celebrate special occasions. On the way back to work, a mere form of flattery is actually considered as sexual misconduct and definitely can be legally defined as sexual harrassment. But the men (yes,married) enjoy the attention. Are these the same DOT employees who are to represent us in Washington and spend our money on these projects?