"Don't read and reply to emails out of hours; you'll make yourself less credible"

[MaidofKent78]

Said by my husband this evening and it got me wondering: does it?

For context, I work 0.6FTE in a technical role within an NGO, not at a supervisory level. It's rare that emails come in on my days off that can't wait until I'm back in the office, and there's no expectation that I would respond.

Occasionally, I do read and reply out of hours, mainly because I enjoy my work and I'm interested in what's happening when I'm not there. But my husband's remark got me thinking....

So am I making myself less credible by doing this?

Personally I have a lot of respect for supervisors/managers who reply to emails out of hours. If it was someone not in a supervisory role though... Possibly I might find it a bit try-hard, or alternatively I might feel bad about disturbing their day off.

As a manager I tried not to because I didn’t want to foster a culture where people felt they needed to be available and responsive out of working hours. If I knew something might need my attention (24/7 organisation so potential for crisis out of hours) I’d agree to check in but not routinely. I hate presenteeism in all it’s forms so wouldn’t want to encourage it.

I have more time for managers who are able to model boundaried behavior and don't spend time working during down time, (with the exception of managing emergencies.)

You still could, if you wanted to, but then just schedule the email to send at 9 am the next morning. The upside of this is you will look super productive by 9:05 if twenty emails have already been sent that morning

I don’t think so. I don’t know many people who don’t respond to emails out of hours - frankly, in lots of industries, people are still in the office at 9 or 10pm.

It’s certainly normal in my field (HE) but there are few of us who work traditional 9-5 hours. I work compressed hours, which can be anywhere between 7am and 10:30pm 4 days a week. It’s not unusual for me to receive emails at 11pm on a weeknight or on a Sunday afternoon. I don’t necessarily respond to them though unless it’s urgent if I’m not working. I don’t check emails at all on the weekend.

There certainly isn’t a culture of expecting a response at all hours, and actually we actively try not to bother people too muc, especially if they are the sort that have to respond. But I can’t imagine it would make someone not ‘credible.’ That’s an odd and disparaging thing to say.

I work in a similar role to you OP. 0.6 FTE but often these are not "core" hours and I am allowed a lot of flexibility to work in the evenings or at weekends around family life/school pick up. But I generally don't send emails at these times for the exact reason that it looks less professional/credible. I do report writing etc then.

unless it was critical I might draft a response but it was never sent until I was in work - kind of making a point really especially when people knew I wasnt full time

In some places it's simply not allowed. You work during your day, the time you're paid to work.

@mindutopia interesting, my husband works in HE and is pretty clear about his boundaries when he's not at work. He wasn't trying to be disparaging, rather trying to encourage me to not do work when I'm not at work and not being paid!

I would love to know more about scheduling emails to go out at 9am! How do I do this? Can all email systems do it? This would improve my life hugely I feel.

I worked in one place where there were a few partners and a lot of bad blood. Honestly - if I didn’t play UN sometimes there would be a massive falling out over night (they always started squabbling in the evening) so it was easier (for me) to pitch in. Of course there were times when I’d had a glass of wine and wasn’t at my most diplomatic.

There was a time that I didn’t even look at me emails over night and the row was still rumbling on the next morning at our staff meeting (and it was pretty shouty).

I suppose it depends on where you work.

I’m freelance so it’s a bit different as I set my own hours, but I’ll often save a draft at night ready to send early the next morning.

Sometimes I end up changing it slightly for the better anyway, having slept on it.

What's his reasoning behind that?

Oh scheduling emails! When we discovered how to do this (must’ve been on the 90s) we used to time emails to go out at 3am to see if our bosses noticed. They never said anything!

He wasn't trying to be disparaging, rather trying to encourage me to not do work when I'm not at work and not being paid!

^^

Depends how you view your role really....

Hmmm, I work in HE and answer emails at all hours and at weekends. Never thought about it making me seem less credible, not really sure why it would. I think it probably makes a rod for my own back with students expecting a near instant response even though they know we have a 5 day allowance for answering....I am trying to stop myself.

Btw, I had no idea you could schedule emails....I need to google and learn how to do this!

I think this depends on your industry, culture, work life balance generally and not one answer is right.

I'm a teacher, I read emails out of core hours (it suits me better) and will draft replies. I will not send replies to people that are junior to me unless it's time critical because I don't want them to think they have to reply when they aren't at work. I will reply to SLT at whatever time because they send emails at all hours.
I can see your DHs point, particularly if your boundaries are becoming blurred.

Surely this depends on your industry/company norms. If no one else you grade replies out of office hours then it probably looks a bit try hard

If it’s standard or even expected then probably best to reply out of hours

I know in my role we would be expected to reply most of the time... but not after 11 and not necessarily on weekends unless very urgent

Charity CEO here. I'm responsible for my organisation 24/7 so if it's important I should reply out of hours. I might respond anyway to minor queries but I don't need to.

Your DH sounds a bit jobs worth. People with serious responsibility are serious about it.

I think if you can avoid it then best not to send emails late in the evening or weekends. It is so annoying when you come in Monday morning to loads of emails that have come in over the weekend. Puts you behind from the word go and can be quite stressful.

I also need to learn how to schedule emails. A friend mentioned that he did this and I think it's a great idea, but I've never got round to setting it up.

Yes. I do agree with your husband and have not been able to articulate it, well done to him for finding the words.

I work hours to fit around family life so do work in the evenings. I will prepare an email, leave it in drafts then send the next morning. Makes me look diligent sending emails at 8am. I won't send emails after 7 because I think it looks like I am having to work late to catch up. The odd thing is I don't think the same if I receive emails out of work hours from someone. 🤷

I wouldn't reply to routine queries out of hours. If someone I liked and respected emailed to ask something urgent out of hours, I think it would be churlish to not reply, or schedule the reply to be sent in working hours.

For me, this is the flip side of having a lot of flexibility around working hours and holiday.

My job is (mostly) interesting and stretching. The people with whom I work are amongst the best part of it all. We support each other when we can.

We don't complain if someone can't help out out of hours.

I don't know anyone who doesn't respond to work emails out of hours these days. I'm not sure that it's healthy but it is the norm.