The Dangers of E-mail

電子郵件的危險

陳豪在北京的ABC美國公司工作。同事Amy在復印間里找到他。

(Office ambience)

A: Hi Chen Hao. May I talk to you for a minute after you finish copying those documents?

C: 我馬上就印完了。什么事？

A: It seems that you sent an e-mail to one of your colleagues last week. You said some uncomplimentary things about a co-worker.

C: 什么電子郵件？我怎么不記得。

A: The one you sent to Bill complaining about Sue's work on your current project.

C: 哦，我想起來了，上星期我確實給Bill發過一個電子郵件，因為Sue太氣人了。

A: It seems that you criticized her failure to meet deadlines, her inattention to detail and her inability to work with others.

C: 是啊，當時我們剛開了一次特別重要的小組會議，確定項目提案的終稿。

A: I imagine there was a lot of pressure.

C: 對啊，我是組長，所以壓力特別大。Sue不僅沒有按時完成工作，而且粗枝大葉，又不合作，所以我才發電子郵件給Bill抱怨。

A: Why Bill?

C: Bill做過這類項目，又跟組里很多人共過事。其實啊，我就是想找個人，發泄一下。

A: It is understandable that you needed to vent to someone and get advice on how to handle the situation, but e-mail was the wrong way to do it.

C: 不應該發電子郵件？可是當時你出差，Bill在開會，我沒有別的辦法。

A: Let's talk more about this later on. I have a meeting in five minutes.

C: 好，一會兒見。

幾小時后，在陳豪辦公室里。

C: Amy，你剛才說我不應該發電子郵件給Bill，為什么？

A: After Bill read your e-mail, he forwarded it to Lee who has also worked with Sue. I don't think Bill meant any harm. He wanted to know if Lee had had any of the same issues.

C: Bill 看完電子郵件后，轉寄給Lee，那也沒什么啊。

A: Wait. There's more. Lee and Sue are friends so Lee sent a copy of your message to her.

C: 什么？Lee和Sue是好朋友？這下可糟了。

A: You don't know how bad it is. Sue was upset and passed your e-mail on to several friends in her department. In short you email has created something of an office war. People are taking sides.

C: 什么？不過這可不是我的本意。你說我現在該怎么辦呢？

A: You need to go directly to Sue and talk to her.

C: 去找Sue當面說清楚？

A: That's right. You owe her an apology for your bad judgment in involving Bill and not discussing your issues with her first.

C: 一封短短的電子郵件，會把事情搞到這種田地。

A: The point is that e-mail should not be used to send messages that are sensitive or confidential.