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What’s worse than an aggro email? An aggro follow-up email.
At least, that’s what Adobe systems report employees say is the most annoying form of keyboard correspondence out there. A survey conducted by the software company set out to do us all a solid by figuring out what the most irritating emailed phrases. They polled more than 1,000 white-collar workers in the US representing common working ages (mainly between 25 and 64).
“Not sure if you saw my last email…” was by far the most annoying email phrase, according to a quarter of those polled.
“Per my last email…” took a hot second place with 13 percent of employees saying that phrase made their skin crawl the most. Tied for third place, 11 percent of employees said they detested the phrases “per our last conversation” and “any update on this?”.
The other most annoying phrases were also related to following up:
- "Sorry for the double email." (10 percent)
- "Please advise." (9 percent)
- "As previously stated…" (9 percent)
- "As discussed…" (6 percent)
- "Reattaching for convenience." (6 percent)
Considering more than 70 percent of employees use email to communicate with their colleagues, it might be worth adding these phrases to your spell check and eliminate them forever. Communicating in the workplace over email is quick and efficient, but it can be hard to convey the intent and emotion behind words, which can “negatively impact productivity and culture,” Adobe’s director email solution Kristin Naragon told CNBC.
Researchers also outlined other tips for communicating with people in the workplaces. For starters, half of the employees surveyed (especially those older than 25) preferred for brands to contact them by email rather than a phone call. If you’re soliciting an email on behalf of your brand, nearly 40 percent of employees say they would rather be given information over promotional material.
Then again, email could be on the way out. The survey also found that instant messaging services like Slack were seen as the communication method that has innovated the most over the last five years, especially for those ages 18 to 24 and older than 35. In general, methods of communicating in the workplace are shifting, primarily because of the rise of millennial employees in the workplace. A 2017 report by Forbes found millennials have an aversion to phone calls and text “a lot,” but still send more than 205 billion emails every day.
