Work Emails: Request Read Receipt or Not?
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While I already have most this info posted on my teaching blog, I know I have different readers here that can offer valuable input about their work email so here goes:
Did you know people at your work might be offended at you due to email? They may think you didn’t reply because you don’t care or imagine you are mad etc. They also might be angry at you because they never got your reply (which you sent!)
I have had some of these issues lately and below is my article about using “read receipt request” in an attempt to prevent them:
The other day a fiasco almost happened because someone didn’t get my email at work. I don’t recommend this is regular personal emails because it’s cumbersome, but from now on I will be sending out a “request read” receipt on all my work emails. If people don’t mark it as read, then I will assume they didn’t get it. If they do mark it read, then I can rest easy. You might want to try this and see how you like it.
Update: After trying this today with several contacts I did learn some practical knowledge. It is probably bad etiquette to request a read receipt on every email you send. Having the record in your sent box is enough sometimes to give me peace of mind. I think it’s best to have a signature ready that reads something like:
To be sure my message was received I have requested a “read receipt” on this message. If you do not receive a notification to check, I request that you reply with a minimum of the word “received” . Thank you. -Mr. Riley
That way if you are sending an email that needs verification that the receiver read it, you can just add the “signature” footer to the message. If your email client allows it, you can also select “read receipt request.” What I learned today was that this is not necessary for every email you send, unless you don’t mind appearing overly careful. Another problem with it is that you will have an inbox full of emails that read “received” all day long.
What do you think about using “request read receipts” at work?
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Tags: email, email client, etiquette, practical knowledge, Read Receipt, receipt request, receipts, sending email, signature, verification, work, work emails
I'm Damien Riley, author and teacher. Here you'll find "think outside the box" posts on psychology and inspiration. 
I rarely use the read receipt feature at work. If I am dealing with someone that has a history of claiming they never saw an email, I will use it from time to time. Another time I will use is it is if I have something with a degree of urgency and voicemails are not being returned.
However, I do have a bad habit of keeping EVERY work related email and a copy of my sent messages. I’ve worked on too many projects where a PM or client later claims they never agreed to something or never said that and the emails have saved me.
Derek’s last blog post..Overclocking The World With OCIA.net
Yeah, good point about the saved folder. I think that’s the best way to cyoa.
Absolutely…I’ve been archiving it off to a hard drive as well as the email storage policies at my work prevent me from keeping everything forever.
Derek’s last blog post..Overclocking The World With OCIA.net
I’ve used that feature on rare occasions with personal e-mail, not at work. There’s not a whole lot of e-mailing at my office or really within the entire company. Most of everything is handled over the phone.
I, too, usually just save my sent messages.
Jessica The Rock Chick’s last blog post..Karma Chameleon
Thanks Jessica. Teaching is a funny profession that way, there are about 30 teachers who rarely see each other and we aren’t usually supposed to call through the phones. For us, it’s the "boxes" or email amd email is so much easier … when people get it!