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WhatsthePONT

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Email Read Receipts. Does the misuse of minimum effort technology undermine trust between colleagues?

Do email read receipts make your spirits soar…….? Not mine. Why do people send them? Many people I’ve spoken to have, like me, been on the receiving end of read receipt misuse. Pointless, irritating and questionable behaviour. I must admit that when I get one, particularly from repeat offenders, I’m sorely tempted to just delete…

20130113-111352.jpgDo email read receipts make your spirits soar…….? Not mine.

Why do people send them? Many people I’ve spoken to have, like me, been on the receiving end of read receipt misuse. Pointless, irritating and questionable behaviour.

I must admit that when I get one, particularly from repeat offenders, I’m sorely tempted to just delete the email without even reading it. Not quite the user experience (UX) emotion or response I’d imagine programmers, developers or the email sender were looking for.

There are many reasons why people need to send email read receipts. These range from the well-intentioned and legitimate, right through to something more sinister like, a lack of trust between colleagues. Unfortunately the virtually effortless act of sending a read receipt request can lead to misuse and undermine trust (I’ve explained my logic on this previously). Here are some thoughts on why people send them, particularly in relation to colleague to colleague communication.

Legitimate and Well Intentioned. This does what it says on the tin. This is a really important email you need to read. Possibly something that affects your terms of employment, has legal implications or involves money. It’s a bit like the ‘registered post’ package you have to sign for at the front door. A hassle to carry out, but necessary for your protection, and the person sending you the package. These situations are generally few and far between in colleague to colleague communication.

Unconscious Ignorance. I’m being generous here. Some of the ‘read receipt’ emails I’ve seen relate to very innocuous interactions. Why on earth would someone require a read receipt for an invite to an optional lunchtime presentation? I can only assume that it’s because the sender has some email feature set to automatic and isn’t aware of the impact (or how to turn it off). At least they get to feel the pain of the response emails flooding back in their own, undoubtedly, massively overloaded inbox.

Something More Sinister…… I Don’t Trust You! Unless the document falls into the same category as ‘registered post’ I really don’t see the need for the read receipt. The only other conclusion I can draw is that “you don’t trust me to read and act upon your email, so you want evidence in case you need to use it against me”. It’s a bit like sending a ‘cc’ to the boss of a colleague, a sneaky action that undermines trust between colleagues.

The read receipt is undoubtedly a useful feature that has great value, in the right circumstances. However I’m not sure that the potential for misuse by people was fully appreciated. Unfortunately the misuse that is enabled by virtually zero effort (cognitive and physical) turns something useful into a problem. For those on the receiving end the impact can range from mild irritation to something much less desirable, the undermining of trust between colleagues.

Interestingly the technical community can also feel the pain of their creation. Here’s an interesting story about an email migration project on exchangeserverpro.com. The project encountered 24,368 unread ‘read receipts’ held by a single person (the mind boggles at the state of that inbox!) This is a technical account but worth reading, particularly for the first comment……, “Read receipts have to be the most inane and narcissistic feature of email. They’re the first thing I disable when being setup under a new email system.” Nicely put….! Perhaps we should all get our IT departments to follow this advice, for the sake of trust between colleagues.

I’ve not got much to add to that other than what I’ve said before, ’emails don’t send emails, people do’. Same for the ‘read receipts’, it’s all about how we choose to behave.

So, what’s the PONT?

  • There are legitimate and well-intentioned reasons for sending ‘read receipts’. Think ‘registered post’, otherwise don’t use it.
  • The impact of a ‘read receipt’ is two-way. Think about what your request means for your recipient? Also, do you really want 24,000 confirmation emails back in your inbox?
  • It’s all about behaviours. We have choices about whether to send ‘read receipt’ or not; ‘read receipts’ don’t send themselves, people do.

Photo source: Check out the Paul Cunningham post on exchangeserverpro.com

http://exchangeserverpro.com/real-world-case-read-receipts

Good News.
There is something practical you can do to switch off the annoying read receipts.
Here is an excellent link from @Darrenruddick, thanks Darren.
http://blah.winsmarts.com/2010-7-Outlook_2010_-and-ndash;_Disable_the_read_receipt_annoyance.aspx

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Responses to “Email Read Receipts. Does the misuse of minimum effort technology undermine trust between colleagues?”

  1. Esther Nagle (@Esthernagle)

    I hate read receipts, I learned a long time ago to turn them off and refuse to have anything to do with them, I never request them and I certainly never send them. In a previous job, having sent the read receipt seemed to be read by other staff (particularly management) to mean “I have dropped everything I was doing and am now slavishly working to solve your query”, and they’d expect it done almost immediately! Infuriating device!

    Reply
    1. whatsthepont

      Thanks Esther,
      Right with you on this.
      I’m going to see if I can find some instructions on how to turn off the function which I can attach to the post.
      Don’t suppose you’ve got a link to anything?

      Thanks for the comment,
      Chris

      Reply
  2. Estelle Rowe (@EstelleDotDot)

    Great post. I detest them and have had them used against me in anger. This was ridiculous of course – I always display my messages in preview mode, so I had read the mails whilst being unaware that the person had requested a read receipt. Ban ’em I say!!
    Curious to know whether anyone has ever been brave enough to ask an offender to refrain?

    Reply
    1. whatsthepont

      Thanks Estelle,
      Good point about having emails in preview mode.
      Makes the read receipt doubly pointless.

      Thinking about asking people to refrain.
      I might just do that and see what happens next.
      If it works out interesting might be worth a post.

      Thanks for the comment,
      Chris

      Reply
  3. dtbarron

    I have them automatically switched off – no-one ever get a received or a read receipt. 99% of read receipts are a pointless and inane waste of time. One big problem however is we probably never actually teach people about how best to use email and email features. Perhaps your next blog could tackle the scourge that is ‘reply to all’ – frankly I don’t care you can/cannot attend ,that you’re off somewhere on holiday, that you want something added to the agenda: the meeting organisers do – GO AWAY – sorry, rant over, but its an interesting topic for a blog. Of course it just my be that I’m intolerant. Enjoyed the blog thanks.

    Reply
    1. whatsthepont

      Thanks Derek,
      I think there is a case for teaching people how to behave on email. We will happily spend time teaching the ‘how to’ but hardly anything around the ‘why’ and how to behave.
      I suppose lots of it comes down to organisational culture. If the culture ‘is’ all about cc’s, read receipts and reply all it’s difficult not for people to be drawn in.
      Easiest way may be to just switch it all off.

      Thanks for the comment,
      Good idea for future post.
      Chris

      Reply
      1. dtbarron

        Of course it could be that I’m just a grump 🙂

  4. Joel_Hughes

    Read receipts simply don’t work in many email clients. Therefore, if I receive one, it gives me the impression that the person sending it doesn’t have a great grasp of technology.

    Joel

    Reply
    1. whatsthepont

      Thanks Joel,
      I don’t think they have much of a grasp of the impact it has on the recipient, as well as the knowledge of technology deficit.

      It’s the people who should know better (and probably do) are the big problem. Gnawing away at trust.

      Cheers
      Chris

      Reply
  5. mark

    I use read receipts. Much of my email comes via corporate MS Outlook server where they are enforced. I display the “Originator Delivery Requested” flag in my inbox, which shows a check mark next to any emails sent with read receipt. This way I can spot the really important emails where someone wanted to be sure I got it. They are not part of the SMTP standard and so are not generally enforced outside but they are nevertheless a useful tool within a large organisation, My preference is generally to have a conversation alongside an important email (phone call or IM) but sometimes, particularly in high volume settings, or working across time zones, a read receipt is pretty useful. I would estimate that I send a read receipt request maybe 2 times per week, that’s out of maybe 100-150 emails I send each week.

    It’s interesting people talking about trust issues. I look at it the other way around: if I get a read receipt back then I can rest easy and know my colleague is taking care of whatever it was I asked them, rather than having to chase them up to check if they got the email. If you have trust issues within your workplace, it seems unlikely that read receipts are going to be the root cause (I might be wrong, perhaps they really are that bad?). Probably better to spend some time building trust with colleagues through team building/trust building or whatever, instead of hating on a particular tool. Like any, I think they are open to mis-use/abuse but I don’t accept that they are inhrerently bad or evil.

    Reply
    1. whatsthepont

      Thanks Mark for a well balanced and thoughtful comment.
      I think you have described the situation very well.
      Situations where important information is moving across international time zones are the sort of thing where a read receipt is necessary and appropriate.
      I was thinking about more mundane trivia, not the important stuff.

      You’ve hit the nail on the head with your comments about trust. Read receipts aren’t the root cause of low trust, just one of he symptoms. My concern was that they can contribute to a vicious circle of a decline in trust if the are used inappropriately.

      Inanimate objects and tools aren’t inherently bad or evil as you say, it’s how w choose to use them that matters. In the right hands a valuable and effective business tool, just like registered post.

      Thanks for the comments, much appreciated,
      Chris

      Btw. Impressed by your 100 – 150 sent messages a week. You could teach a few people lessons in email protocol. 🙂
      See you soon.

      Reply
  6. Mark Woods

    Couldnt agree more with the comments regarding the abuse of read receipts. My other email annoyance is the high importance icon. A colleague of mine insists on sending every message as of ‘high importance’ even when enquiring about my availability for Friday night drinks.

    I have found always found that making the effort to walk to someones desk and speak face to face works much better for me, it gives me chance to engage is constructive conversation about my work instead of sending and receiving a list of intructions – the conversation allows the opportunity to suggest better ways of meeting the objective and often provides me with a greater understanding too.

    Reply
    1. whatsthepont

      Thanks Mark,
      Was pondering on a post about the urgent/important icon…. But have drawn the line for the minute.
      Friday night availability for a knowledge exchange session over a schooner or two might be the most important thing that happens that week…… ?

      Face to face conversation over email every time?

      Thanks for the comment,
      Chris

      Reply
  7. New year, new bloggers, new ideas | weeklyblogclub

    […] one but Chris Bolton certainly has and he’s written about what he feels about them in ‘Email Read Receipts. Does the misuse of minimum effort technology undermine trust between colleagues?‘. What do they really say about the person sending them? If, like me, you […]

    Reply
  8. Email Read Receipts. Does the misuse of minimum effort technology undermine trust between colleagues? | weeklyblogclub

    […] Email Read Receipts. Does the misuse of minimum effort technology undermine trust between colleagues… by Chris Bolton […]

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  9. Janet E Davis

    I used to use them when first using mail at work – mainly to ensure that people had seen the information they needed to see, especially at a time when most where new to email and some didn’t look at their email often (or delegated retrieving and printing it out to assistants). But that wasn’t a Microsoft programme and it dealt with them a bit more smoothly, and it was very useful in not requiring people to email back & clutter up my inbox. Don’t think I’ve used receipts for years. I don’t even use email as much.

    Reply
    1. whatsthepont

      Thanks Janet,
      I remember back in the early days of email ringing people to tell them an email was coming, and then calling to see if it had arrived.
      All done with very green pixelated characters. More to do with the thrill of some new tech rather than checking up on them.

      Been lots of interesting comments on this post. An interesting area of development and change around what improvements in technology allow us to do, and how we behave in response.

      Thanks for the comment,
      Chris

      Reply
  10. Sharell

    My supervisor sends a read receipt with the email sent to me only. I have four other co-workers that never receives them. It’s really strange because she sends me ,Thank you and Gratitude emails.. I’m so confused

    Reply

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