Accidental email storms are City workers’ big bugbear
One pet peeve has been causing more grief than the rest of late – the reply-all email. Also known as an “email storm”, the moment when Jack from accounts accidentally sends “sorry I can’t make the charity do, it’s my girlfriend’s birthday” to a 200-strong workforce is one of the worst moments in a fledgling employee’s life.
Now, a recent survey by the British Heart Foundation has found a fifth of Brits consider the email storm is the most embarrassing office faux-pas.
Nick Moon was the latest to come under fire after a bout of internet incompetence. Last month, the British Polling Council secretary accidentally copied in a leading eurosceptic in an email response to a complaint about rigged polls, branding the aforementioned eurosceptic as “odious”. Cue a grovelling apology and many a red face.
But don’t worry, Mr Moon, reply-alls happen all too often in the City. In August a Reuters reporter tweeted that someone named Vince sent an email that ended up reaching 33,000 inboxes.
As hundreds of email responses followed — with people clicking reply all to tell people to stop replying all — employees and reporters even got #ReutersReplyAllGate trending on Twitter.
Mind you, it could be worse. The Capitalist’s City spy recalls an incident a couple of years ago at one major brokerage, where private feedback on one of the firm’s employees was mistakenly sent to all staff. Ouch.