How to Respond to 5 Common Passive-Aggressive Work Emails

When it comes to hostile work emails, it’s important to read between the lines.

You want to fight back, but it’s a trap!

Adobe found some of the most-hated passive-aggressive email phrases in a recent survey.

Here’s how to respond to them.

“Not sure you saw my last email.”

It’s easy to see that’s passive-aggressive.

Instead of snipping back with “I don’t think you know how busy I am,” diffuse the situation with a simple, “thanks for the reminder,” according to Psychology Today.

“Per my last email,” and “per our conversation” can be responded to in the same way.

Your response should lead with telling your coworker thanks for the reminder and recap of the conversation, according to a social worker Business Insider spoke with.

“Any update on this?” is easy to tackle.

Psychology Today says just be honest.

Write back something like “I don’t have any updates yet but will get back to you as soon as I do.”

Ignoring them will only make things worse.

“Sorry for the double email.”

Don’t tell them to quit clogging up your inbox.

A psychologist tells Business Insider to acknowledge their apology, even though they probably didn’t mean it, with something like, “thank you, I did notice that.”

And be honest, it’s hard not to notice a bunch of emails from a coworker you hate.

Forgive me for using fighting words!

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