Q) I’m really, really scared. On Monday I forwarded a budget e-mail to my close friend Jessica in Finance, including a comment that her boss, Ms. Harrison, is a “mean-spirited incompetent.” On Wednesday I got an e-mail from Mark in Finance on budget numbers. When I scrolled down, there at the bottom I saw my email to Jessica – including my line about Ms. Harrison. And Ms. Harrison was copied! It’s Friday afternoon and I’m sure I’m about to get fired! What should I do?
A) If you haven’t already been fired, you need to squid that email immediately. Squidding — or sending up a cloud of cyber-ink to hide your screw-up — is done by editing out the offending line, replacing it with some innocuous material, and re-sending.
So simply go down and delete the passage, then write, “The budget numbers work for me!” and reply to all. Odds are that people will keep the new version and delete the old one, based on the date and time.
Some managers take advantage of squidding by replacing the offending lines with fanny kissing comments — like, “I’ve heard Ms. Harrison is a wonderful boss!’ This can be risky however, since Jessica might respond, “What do you mean? I thought you said she was a mean-spirited incompetent!’
It’s probably better to simply make a clean squid and get the problem behind you.
Workplace Behaviorist Dr. Miles Rumphley answers your career questions. He reserves the right to embellish and totally fabricate questions and answers.
