Whoops!!!

Nearly eight in 10 advertising and marketing executives polled confess they’ve made a mistake when sending e-mail, according to a new report from The Creative Group.

The survey was based on 250 telephone interviews — 125 with advertising executives randomly selected from the nation’s 1,000 largest advertising agencies, and 125 with senior marketing executives randomly selected from the nation’s 1,000 largest companies.

When asked, “Have you ever mistakenly e-mailed someone the wrong message or copied someone on a message without intending to?” 78% responded that they had.

“E-mail mistakes can be painfully visible and viral,” Megan Slabinski, executive director of The Creative Group, said in a statement. “Professionals must be especially careful in this economy not to do anything that could cause employers to question their competence or judgment, and that means paying close attention when sending any kind of message, particularly if the information is sensitive.”

Following are a few descriptions of e-mail mistakes provided by survey respondents.
• “Someone sent out confidential salary information to the whole firm.”

• “I once sent a job offer to the wrong person.”

• “An employee sent his resume to me by mistake. It was supposed to go to an outside company.”

• “Someone made a nasty comment about a supervisor and it was sent to the supervisor by mistake. It eventually led to dismissal.”

• “One of our vendors accidentally e-mailed me information about their sales performance, so I gained some inside knowledge about that vendor.”

• “Someone sent me a copy of an employee’s bank records by mistake.”

• “Someone meant to send a racy picture to a couple of friends but ended up sending it to the entire staff, which caused her much embarrassment.”

Tips from The Creative Group to avoid e-mail mistakes include:
• Give it your undivided attention. Avoid multitasking when responding to important or sensitive messages. If you can’t respond right away, let the person know when they can expect to hear back. Then, compose the e-mail when you’re free of distractions.

• Save the distribution list for last. When writing a confidential or sensitive message, wait until it is complete before carefully selecting the recipients. This will help you avoid sending out an incomplete thought or selecting the wrong individuals.

• Don’t hit "send" when you’re seething. E-mailing when you’re angry is never a good idea. Give yourself time to cool down before responding. It may be better to speak in person.

• Keep it professional. Bear in mind that electronic messages can easily be forwarded and employee e-mails may be monitored. Avoid saying anything unkind or unprofessional.