What to do if you ‘reply all’ or make another email faux pas
We’ve all been there. You’re in a rush, tired, not paying attention to your screen and — before you know it — you’ve made an embarrassing spelling mistake in an email. Worse, you’ve hit “reply all” and fired off a message to the very person you were criticising.
Realisation will probably dawn seconds after you’ve pressed send. You freeze in horror, burn with shame and then go into full-on panic. What to do? Dare you admit your mistake?
It was a conundrum faced last week by the poor person at BAFTA, tasked with emailing the 225 unsuccessful applicants of Elevate — the organisation’s training scheme designed to boost the representation of female directors.
“Thank you for your application,” it began. “With almost 250 applicants, the selection panel had some very difficult decisions to make. We regret to inform you that you have not been successful in your application on this occasion.”
So far, so standard. Except that, instead of putting the email addresses of the rejected women in the hidden “Bcc” bar, BAFTA copied them all onto the email in plain sight, revealing their identities.
In certain contexts, this kind of error could have serious consequences. Luckily for BAFTA, the rejected candidates turned the trip-up into a triumph. Director Alicia MacDonald was the first to “reply all”, writing “Hard luck everyone!” before others piled in, consoling one another and mocking the mistake. Some days we get good news, some days we get bad news ... and some days bad news turns to good news ... #BAFTAsLUCKY225 — Diane Jessie Miller (@DianeJMiller) April 4, 2017 Great example of a happy accident! I’m honoured to be part of such a strong group of lady humans! #BAFTAsLUCKY225 — Nicky Lianos (@NickyLianos) April 4, 2017
BAFTA briefly attempted to intervene, informing the applicants that they had been “Cc-ed in error” and asking that they not email one another — but it was too late. The women had already started a Twitter hashtag #BAFTAslucky225 and were busy forming their own support network. “Never has rejection come with such a silver lining,” tweeted director Kat Wood.
Such turnarounds don’t happen every day, of course, but an email mishap need not leave you rocking to and fro in a darkened room. Here are six common email blunders, and how best to recover from them.
If auto-correct has embarrassed you
In this era of smartphones, the dangers of auto-correct are welldocumented. Writing “horny” instead of “hungry” might cause you to burn with shame, but it’s more than likely that the recipient has made similar errors.
Harder to explain away is the addition of a rogue emoji, as discovered by the woman who sent an email of condolence on the death of friend’s parent, only to have her sign-off — “see you at the funeral” — completed by a skull and crossbones.
Send a calm follow-up, explaining that you were in a hurry and that your phone got the better of you. Hopefully they see the funny side — eventually.
If you’ve written the wrong name
The sooner you notice, the better. Respond quickly and briefly, apologising for your mistake. Don’t dismiss it too lightly, as people can be offended, especially if your error suggests a misunderstanding of their culture. But there is no need to grovel. It happens to everyone and — if their name lends itself to a mistype, like the office PA constantly called Turkey, instead of Tuckey — they might well be used to it.
If you accidentally send your boss a kiss
Ending an email with “X” is the most natural thing in the world, except when the recipient is your CEO. Pity the person who sent their boss two lines of “Zzz” in an email about tiredness, only to have them auto-corrected to kisses. The only options are to laugh it off and blame technology, or pretend it never happened, ensuring all follow-up emails are exactingly professional — even if they come back with an unwelcome ‘X’ at the end of their reply.
We’ve all been there ...
If you hit ‘reply all’
This tends to be irritating more than anything: when you accidentally reveal to the entire company what menu choices you would prefer at the staff summer do. The best solution is to send a light-hearted email to excuse your clumsiness (“Sorry everyone, I realise you didn’t all want to know I’d like the salmon”).
But it can quickly escalate, if people starts hitting “reply all” to join in a long unpleasant conversation, as happened when the NHS mistakenly sent 840,000 staff a “test” email in November 2016, and nearly 200 million unnecessary replies came back from frustrated employees. The best thing is not to get involved. Step away from your keyboard, allowing everyone to calm down and avoiding the unnecessary clogging up of inboxes.
If you’ve created someone else work
Occasionally, a harmless mistake can cause your colleagues unnecessary stress, as the offended party can assume an error was made higher up. As soon as you realise what you’ve done, own up to both of them. Firstly, calmly explain your mistake to your superior, say sorry and show willingness to rectify the situation. Write a new email to outline your mistake, copying them in. Accept responsibility, explain it was an oversight that does not represent the views of the company — then move on.
If you send an unkind message to its subject
There’s nothing so likely to make your body seize-up with pure panic. You write a nasty message about someone, intending to send it to a friend, but accidentally forward it to the person you’re discussing. A faceto-face apology is essential, especially if you work together. Ask to speak in private as soon as possible.
If the email was triggered by a specific incident, it’s probably a good time to explain why you were angry in the first place. Set out your frustrations calmly and see it as an opportunity to rectify any difficulties. Or just go into lockdown, delete your social media accounts and screen calls — not everyone can be as lucky as BAFTA.