With so many people using email these days to communicate with off-site co-workers, the University of Illinois-Chicago has done some research into email incivility.
Scholars say there are two kinds of email incivility: “active” email rudeness and “passive” email rudeness.
“We actually asked people to provide examples of rude emails they actually received. And from those examples we got even more convinced that this is a real problem that a lot of people are finding very distressful in their workplace,” says lead researcher Zhenyu Yuan, assistant professor in UIC’s Department of Managerial Studies.
Yuan said passive email rudeness includes ignoring a co-worker’s email when it’s clear that person needs a response to carry on their work. Managers should set guidelines for maximum response time allowed to answer an email, he suggests.
It’s pretty obvious what an actively rude email is: a nasty one.
And for those actively rude emails, Yuan advises: Writer, try to understand how you’re coming across.