"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?

It’s in the Options tab - select Don’t Deliver Before.... literal game changer

Hmmm....can’t find Options tab. Does this exist in Microsoft Exchange? I really hope so!

I don't even have access to my emails out of hours, unless I switch on my work laptop, which I refuse to do. But I'm lucky that I'm not in an organisation that fosters that kind of culture

When you use the delay send function, doesn't the time on the email received show as when it was drafted rather than when it was sent?

I reply to emails on my days off and evenings as I work in healthcare (private) and I know it's a very difficult time for patients so I'm happy to respond if I see an email out of the clinic

doesn't the time on the email received show as when it was drafted rather than when it was sent?

Easy enough to schedule an email to yourself to go at 9am tomorrow. I've done it myself now and will update when it arrives.

It depends very much on your works culture. In our place it is very much frowned upon and those at the top set a good example by never sending emails late etc as they understand the pressure this puts on those who think you need to stay late to get on etc. I think it's a great way to be. It makes people better time managers and gives permission for a life outside work. I would fully expect to be pulled up on sending emails after 7pm.

Absolutely depends on your work culture.

Although we officially work office hours, many many people around work shifts. If there is something urgent enough, they deserve an answer.

I reply out of hours but that's because I'm sad and don't have life.

I'd say about 50% of people where I work will respond outside 9-6.

I think it helps in the give/take thing. If I'm sending emails this evening my boss won't much care if I'm 15 mins late in the morning kind of thing.

I’m in HE, too, and I agree entirely with your husband.

I don't think it's so much losing credibility, more that boundaries are important and when one person starts responding out of hours that becomes the norm.

If someone is part time then I wouldn't expect them to be contactable on their non working days.

I only have access to my emails on my laptop, which is only on if I am working. I do work lots of overtime in our busy period and would respond to emails if I was logged in. Otherwise, I agree with your husband.

For me it's about a work/life balance

People with serious responsibility are serious about it.

Now there’s a value judgement. I’m serious about my work responsibilities - I’m flexible in my approach, take on additional responsibilities, more than fulfil my role and am well respected in my workplace. My evenings and weekend are for me, my family and friends - happily my boss doesn’t measure how seriously I taut work by the lateness of my email.

Can you delay sending from outlook online? I can see how to do it in proper outlook but not outlook online.

I feel very strongly that you should not be expected to read/respond to any communication when not in working hours. If you are expected to do so you should be payed for your time. I worked for many years in an extremely stressful and draining role when it was excepted that you could be contacted when not working and found that the strain of never being able to forget about work lead to "burn out". Work/life balance is extremely important.

Ok. I've the schedule emails truck loads of time but whenever I shut down outlook or my PC it tells me it needs to send the emails. What am I doing wrong?

I don't respond OOH anymore. The company I work for have offices all over the world, so emails come in at all times, I respond in my time, not theirs.

I also encouraged my team not to answer OOH, boundaries need to be set by them. Give some people an inch and they will take a mile with goodwill, especially PMs.

Yes, when there is a business need, we work OOH, but not all the time.

I've been eternally grateful to tutors who responded to my student emails when late panicing over an essay kicked in.

Its whatever works for you.

But what if in between you writing and scheduling an email and it actually going out, lots more people have emailed and the situation has changed? Doesn't it cause more hassle than it's worth?

I tend to read emails most of the time - I'm in mat leave at the moment and still check in most days - and respond when required particularly if a few minutes of my time will make something a lot easier for someone else. Like others have said, I also value flexibility and I think that replying to emails outside of my core working hours is part of that. It's give and take isn't it?

It really depends. I have my work phone on me at all times. My position means I am one of the emergency contacts, though about 5th so it rarely gets to me. I am not expected to be on call, so if I have had a drink or away for the weekend the call goes to the next person.

I got a call once on a weekend, the building was on fire, we all got called. Nothing we could do but we had to contact our staff and implement the contingency.

But because I have my phone with me, I do check it, every couple of hours. I only respond to something that's an emergency, if I am not in work hours. That's rare.

If I have nothing on I respond and time delay until monday morning, to make a point to anyone who emails me on a weekend with stuff that can wait. Normally I will email first thing monday.

The other reason I check is that I feel better knowing, what I am walking into Monday morning. It makes me more relaxed on a sunday might not worrying if any shit hit the fan after I left on friday.

Lots of people where I work tend to work flexibly these days. I’ve noticed a few people have a note in their email signature along the lines of “I work flexibly and it suits me to send emails outside of usual working hours but I don’t expect a reply at these times”.

I would happily send an email at 7pm but not midnight, I’d schedule it to send at say 8am.

24/7 here. I never understand why anyone has a problem with it. You do your life your way I’ll do mine. If you genuinely think less of me because I work when it suits me then I think I can live with that.

@Ohnoherewego62, one of the growing problems in academia is students who expect an immediate response to an essay crisis email, and send a stream of increasingly panicked and/or aggressive follow-ups when a reply isn’t forthcoming at 10 pm on a Saturday night.

Time has made me far more stringent about never replying to emails out of office hours.

Forgot to answer the actual question

I dont think it makes you look less credible. However, I do think unless it's an emergency, it's pointless. I dont think it makes you look any better or worse.

But if you do run the risk of people thinking you are always available

I agree with your husband.