Ah heck ... we all do it eventually. I did it just last week, even :) Actually, I hit send accidentally on an email to all our managing directors with only half a sentence in it, then had to follow up with the full details and try to save face while asking them all to do something for me.

Do you want to hear my story about embarrasment at work?? See the attached story.

Honey, it's par for the course around here. No one ever attaches the attachments the first time around. And if they do, the rest of us just think they're showing off....

Happens all the time - don't sweat it. It's only embarrassing when you send a follow up mail saying "whoops - forgot the attachment. here it is" and forget to add the attachment to *that* mail. :-)

I work in a public school and there are so many things that go out without the documents attached (from the county, the principal, the other teachers) no one even blinks an eye. You can still be professional and have that assistant. They might even help you remember to attach documents to emails :)

I'm the assistant who is charged with remembering all that

......what was I saying.....?

Since this is Administrative Professionals Week(or whatever the current p.c. term is), I would like to take this opportunity to lament the passing of The Secretary. I know we should see this as progress, that Really Smart Women are free to do other kinds of work now and besides we have computers and the intertubes so we don't need people who specialize in typing and taking dictation, but still. What we do need are those people who knew How To Do Everything, like working the bureaucracy and, um, sending letters with attachments.

That happens to me ALL the time at work.

I think the more time and effort you put into making an email sound professional increases the chances of leaving off the attachment exponentially, because god knows that's how it's been for me.

I do that ALL the time! I try to be really nice when I point it out to colleagues (by not cc'ing everyone on the first message).

I do that ALL the time! Good to know I'm not the only one. Hypothetically speaking, of course.

I just had an idea. I think Outlook should have a feature that scans your email for the word "attachment" Then if it sees you trying to send the email without an attachment it should ask you "do you want to attach a file?" Kinda like when it asks me if I want to send an email without a subject.

Me too with the unattached attachment! I do it ALL the time!

Every morning I send reports out to my bosses. And some times I slip and send it off with out.
I'm lucky because the people I work for are pretty laid back. So I usually respond with a witty quip in the next email.. slippery little guys, or ...and they are right here. Kinda giving a tra-la effect. In a pathetic Bridgette Jones sorta of way. Not saying I think Bridgette Jones is pathetic. I love that character. Just funny and awkward.

Oh, I have done this many, many times! And also faxed a blank sheet or two. Or misplaced a key letter in a word such as "Asks" or "Shifts" or "can't". You can imagine how those emails turned out....

BTDT! At least it wasn't writing something really inane or stupid in a 'reply to all' message... had one very upper level boss that did it all the time. Or forget to leave out date and time in a meeting notice... all I'm saying...

I'm pretty sure my faculty are now completely used to getting two emails from me any time I claim that I'm attaching something. My follow up subject line is usually the same, appended with "now with more attachments!"

Only yesterday, I tried to send a resume for a job I'd really (really!!!!) like to have, and what went with the email was about half the #$%^& resume. Had to send a mea culpa today with the whole thing. Wonder who'll get the job? Sheesh! Email opens up whole new avenues for embarrassment, n'est-ce pas?

Teehee. I HATE it when I do that. It always makes me feel so dumb. Usually I follow it up with an email with a subject line that reads "OR I could attach the document."

I've done that so often that I have made it a policy to attach any documents *before* I even address the message. Otherwise, I type, key my name, and hit Alt+S to send and then think "crap - no attachments."

Yup, BTDT this morning actually. Fortunately it was to someone I chat with on a regular basis and not a "big whig" so it wasn't too horrible.

I've done that many times and felt all kinds of stupid. Kaitie Tee's idea is brilliant. She should take that one to the big boys at Microsoft.

I'm one of those that usually attach before I write the email.

And, if I'm really lucky I attach the correct document.

I do that with frightening frequency. (Oooh, dig the alliteration.) Also, I got busted when I was a secretary for accidentally attaching my personal signature to a business e-mail and it had a CUSS in it.

I did that so many times when I worked at Tower that people would say, "oops, I pulled a Laurie" whenever THEY forgot to attach things. I'm just too quick with the Ctrl-Enter shortcut.

Totally! It's like thinking you're about to capitalize a letter with the "Shift" key but you accidentally hit

"Enter" and send half the message!

Don't fret, Laurie, we've all forgetten the attachments occasionally! Fantastic idea to attach the attachment before you write the e-mail - I'll have to remember that one...if I can! Just be sure to ALWAYS run Spell Check, and look carefully at the suggestions for misspelt or unrecognized words - had a client once whose last name kept being corrected by Spell Check as "Urine". Thank God I never managed to send that blooper!

Sorry about the misspelled "misspelt" - should have run Spell Check - see?? Case in point!

"My computer locked up a bit when I clicked 'send' so I'm not sure if that last email went through properly. Here's a resend. Sorry for any inconvenience!"

When in doubt, blame technology. ;-)

I do that all the time. At least he noticed that the attachment was missing. What if he didn't notice and you remembered, say next week. Well, it'd be pretty obvious he didn't even read it. So at least he's reading your emails. I have done that more times than I can count. And many other things. When I was working for an ad agency that had a grocery store for a client, I was constantly typing scripts about a big "turdey" sale or "prok chops" and don't even get me started about my two-week stint at a "pubic" relations company. I vote you get an assistant, too!

Compulsive Attachment Forgetfulness is what I call it... it's contagious and may cause painful welts around the eyes... careful out there, y'all!

I just did an e-mail to my executive with bullet points. SO CHIC!

Missing attachments are a regular problem with e-mails around here. In your case, at least people noticed and requested them. I've heard stories where attachments were missing and none of the recipients bothered to request them...so sad.

I'd have enough money to buy myself a Jake or Bryan if I had a dollar for everytime I've done that.

Well, I'd at least have enough for a couple of Starbucks coffees anyway.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one :)

Hey there! I can totally relate to those embarrassing moments in the workplace. Yikes, LOL! I really enjoyed reading this post. You've got style, and I decided to submit your post to yearblook.com. Yearblook is a competition to find the best blog posts, and they print the winners in a book. Good luck!
Mara Albert

I've done that! Every other Tuesday, after uploading our massively huge payroll file (we're talking multiple millions of dollars) to the company that prints our checks, I send an email with an attachment showing the number of checks, the total dollar amount, etc.

The whole POINT of the email is the attachment, and yet two weeks ago I managed to send the email without the attachment! I realized it immediately and sent out a sheepish, "Oops, it would help if I actually attached the file..." note.

Sigh.

Well, you still have thirtysomething years of work life before you to live that one down. And at your retirement party, it'll be a good joke. :-)

Ohhh yes, I used to do that all the time!! But my crowning achievement was forwarding an email saying that one of biggest clients HR director was driving me crazy.... to the director. I had sent a note to our admin assistant for a delayed criminal background check that the director had been hassling me about and when the check arrived a few minutes later (after a five day delay), my co-worker cut and pasted the info into my original email, snark and all, changed the subject line (so I had no clue that it was my original email) and I sent it on to the client. Yeah, nearly lost my job over that one!! And I had to put up with &%*($& ... I mean, friendly reminders about not forwarding sensitive information blah blah until I left that position. Like I'd done it on purpose!!

I do this so often that I have a stock phrase for the follow up emails: "Oops, sorry - fingers faster than brain." Seriously, I send that out at least once every 10 days or so. Although, last week, I used "Now with NEW, IMPROVED, NON-INVISIBLE attachment!!!" just to change it up a little. I think I'll save that one to use every third or fourth time, so it doesn't get stale.

That's what "Recall this message" is for...

Been there, done that!! ;)

Everyone who's ever had access to e-mail has done this at one time or another. My personal moment of glory? Sending the e-mail without the attachment. Then sending the follow up "oops" e-mail...also without the attachment. Then sending the follow up to the follow up with the WRONG file attached (y'know, the version that my boss said was absolutely not to be sent out to anyone...yeah, that one). Somedays, it'd be better to just quietly staple your skirt closed and back slowly away from the keyboard ;-)

P.S. I've found double-sided tape also works wonders for the holding together of the work clothes when one has accidentally exceeded the size tolerance of the fabric ;-)

At least you didn't attach the wrong attachment. That is a favorite mistake of mine. I once sent my boss a recipe for bran muffins instead of the presentation she asked for.

You just made me snort Diet Coke out my nose.
*ouch*
Only because that kind of thing happens to me ALL THE TIME - - so don't feel so bad, you're in good company! :-)

I did that just this morning

THEN

I resent it and said I had a "brainfart"
WTF
Who says that to their boss?
Than forgot to attach it AGAIN!!!

stop me before i resend again.

I feel your pain. :(
.

Worst work mistake ever: we received an email from the office administrator about sick days/ personal days and how we were allowed to use them. Moments later I received a very sarcastic email about it from a co-worker. Moments after than I glanced into her office to find her pale faced and her eyes almost dropping out of her head. All she could say was "I hit 'REPLY ALL'." Yep, you guessed it. Her email went to the ENTIRE company. Oops.

exactly why you need an assistant.
It wouldn't be so funny if we all didn't do it.

um, yeah. i've done that. a lot.

and better yet? so have my very fancy pants bosses.

not such a big deal around here. maybe if we all wore suits it'd be more embarrassing.

I'm a secretary (NOT Administrative Professional)...a LEGAL secretary, actually (we're a class unto ourselves) and I do that with frightening regularity. So what I do is I have a delay on my outbox. It won't send it until I hit "Send/Receive" or 3 minutes has passed. That way, when I hit SEND and realize I've screwed it up, I have a way of stopping it.

Still doesn't help the periodic goof, but it helps.

I do that all the time. So much, in fact, that every time I send an email with an attachement now, I have a brief moment of panic about 30 seconds after I hit send, and must not only immediately check my outbox to see that the attachement is there, but that I also attached the right file.

As for reply-to-all's -- this didn't happen to me but to my boyfriend - the department he was working for was hiring a new professor and one of the candidates was currently there in a part-time position. The chairman emailed the whole dept asking for their thoughts on the candidates (after they had all visited), and some high-up prof replied to ALL and went on and on about how the guy in the part-time position was the worst possible choice and went on to share a the details of a confidential conversation he had had with a student about this guy. Apparently there was much red-faced ass coverage afterward.

The reply-to-all feature has actually been removed from Outlook at my company. Annoying, but you do have to think about it a bit before you use the shortcut.

Forgot to add that spellcheck tries to change my boss's name to "Dimwitz". I've never slipped up on that, but the chairman's assistant sent out an email a few months ago congratulating "Dr. Dimwitz" on his recent award. :D

I so feel your pain! I've done this so often. But hey, if that's the worst that's happened today, then I'd say you're doing fine.

I think that everyone does that once in a while.

But I once had a customer ask me why there was a problem with a file, THEN MAILED MY ANSWER ALONG TO HIS CUSTOMER along with the proof, and was convinced it was MY fault that he did such a dumb thing. Unfortunately, my boss thought it was my fault that he mailed it, too.

Which was a big part of why I quit.

I've soooo done that before. I am never the one to break down and send the response though. I feel mean like I'm pointing out someone deficiency when I do. So I always let someone else be the pointer! Unless it's my friend in the next cube, then I just whisper across the wall.

I have done this a million times, but somehow it seems funnier they way you tell it.

I work in what is called "regulatory compliance." I am essentially a research cop. One morning, a little stoned on cold medicine, I sent a 'strongly worded' email and signed it:

Love,
Jo Ann

hee, I do this all the time. I agree with bunny - I have to add my attachments at the beginning.

OMG! If I had a nickel for everytime I have done this I would probably have enough for coffee and a cookie at Starbucks! And maybe even one of their classy CDs. . . I do this a lot!

BTDT. Usually involving executives. Drat.

I've imagined my assistant many, many times. Her name is Cookie and I get to blame her for all my mistakes, even the missing attachments....

Toni's comment reminds me of the time the department head of Communications sent me an email asking if I wanted to TEACH "pubic relations"--I answered with a huge grin, "no, but I'll teach public relations. No further!"

I get and send many emails without the promised attachment. It's really a frequent issue for all of us!

I HATE that! Once I even wrote this very professional email for a job posting that referred to my attached resume, and then I forgot to attach the resume! I totally flubbed that one...

Have done it, will continue to do it, did it today in fact.

Whilst working in a university, I once spent half an hour obsessing over the wording of a very professional, one paragraph sorry-i'm-just-overworked-not-an-idiot email, to a lady who I'd accidentally sent a 'gentle reminder' email to, after she'd already told me to contact her colleague instead. And then, after clicking send, I realised that misadvertently is not a word. Oops.

Don't worry about the attachement. It happens.

been there. Done that

It happens. Don't fret over it. It's not worth the energy, and as you can see from the posts before (and probably afterwards) of this one that we're all only human.

Put a Post-it-note on your computer screen that says "Attach the attachment!" I put 'em on mine all the time - helps Big time!

Make the cats give you some hugs, from all of us out here. ;-)

TB

Yeah, i think "Reply All" should have a delay on it too, so you can think. "Do I really want this lame ass email going to EVERYONE on this list?" before sending it. I have been the recipient of many emails that I should not have received. I also have send the Magical Invisible Attachments as well.

I do this so often that I've become compulsive about checking and double checking for attachments. I still forget them regularly.

:)The Urban Dictionary calls it, "attachment disorder" and if you qualify as having it you are forthwith protected under the auspices of the Americans With Disabilities Act and any one who gives you any crap about it can be sued uncerimoniously :)*
(tee hee hee)
*I feel I should have been able to work perpitudinous in there somewhere but... :)**
**using lots of smiley faces so no one thinks I'm being snooty.

Oh yes. Yes indeed. I think it's the sheer relief at having composed a memo which wasn't entirely and completely crap - and then you hit 'send' and at the Precise Second it heads through the ether, you remember the attachments...

Girl, I used to do that all the time. Now, I always attach all the files FIRST - before the To: line, the subject - anything. Live by it.

Lemme tell you something that may make you feel much, much cleverer in comparison. Note that I was not any of the directly involved parties...

A special interest group sends an email to a national newspaper, lodging an objection to a published story. Editor A forwards it to his junior, Editor B, with the note "watch out for these guys, they're a bunch of a$$holes".

But guess who hits reply instead of forward...

Did it today and do it about once a week!

I do that all. the. time. And every time I feel like a complete dork. You are not alone.

I have a friend who works at a very technically savvy company. Someone there wrote a macro for this issue - you hit send, and the macro checks to see if your e-mail includes "attachment" or "attached" and then checks to see if anything has been attached! Brilliant!! Unfortunately, it doesn't work with the e-mail program we use at work...

Last week was my personal best - I was rushing to get out for a half day, and had a file that absolutely had to go out. I attached the wrong one, and left for the day. The file was huge, and our e-mail system wouldn't send it outside company e-mail (it was meant to go to a vendor). The vendor, the guy who works for me, and my internal contact with the vendor worked very hard to get the file small enough to make it through the filter... Tons of work all for the _wrong_ file!

I was going to tell you "everyone does that," but that should be obvious by now! I just want to know why it is that clicking Send is the thing that causes you to remember the attachment.

I most recently did this to our faculty advisor. The one who gave us student editors the lecture about communicating with our authors. The one who reminded us to be professional and so on. Keep deadlines. Etc. He's also teaching a class I'm taking and also I've worked for him as a research assistant. I really like him, but he's one of our more formal professors, not the kind who wants to be everyone's friend and tells students to use his first name. But I currently happen to be editing *his* paper, which is generally making me and the editor-in-chief a little nervous, and when I sent it to him for review... I forgot the attachments.

You know what though? I don't think he was really annoyed. I think he, too, knows everyone does that.

The more important the recipients (or the more important it is that I look competent) the more likely I am to forget the attachment.

My favorite is when I'm slightly bitchy about something, like "It is critical that the attachment is reviewed by eod tomorrow" and I forget the attachment.

good stuff

Been there! Every time (it happens once a month so far) it's to the department head. Fortunately it's a small town and her desk is about 20 feet from mine so I hear about it right away. As does everyone else in the office.

Not to worry. 99% of the recipients don't read the email carefully enough to even know they're missing the attachment, and the rest are so happy that there isn't ANOTHER ATTACHMENT to read (even though yours would have thrilled and amazed them with its form and content)and they can hit that old Delete key and go get another cup of coffee.

I can one-up you. I work for the. biggest. oil. company. period. (What can I say? I'm a geologist and someone needs to find our fuel so we can keep on living the North American dream.) Uber-conservative professionals are the rule, and if you're not one, you better become one. Anyway, I realized at the end of the day yesterday that I had my fly open ALL DAY. Why didn't anyone tell me? Why, I query!?? Le sigh.

AND I'm so awesome that I just linked to someone else's site. Go me!

I just started at a place where I have to use e-mail and attach things unto it; PAIN IN THE ASS!

I've trained myself to attach the atachment BEFORE I write the email.

gee WHIZ, I'm sure no one else EVER did anything like that. At least not more than a few hunnert times. A day. Like, in the English Department but I'm not saying it's anyone I might know. Or be. Nevermind. Don't ask me how I know.

NO! That last comment was MINE, and I am NOT anonymous. Forgetful? Well....isn't that the whole subject here? But allow me to attach this: My favorite Mean Trick is the old one where you send a telegram to someone (particularly someone you're mad at or don't like) which reads, simply, "PLEASE DISREGARD FIRST TELEGRAM!"

Just finished your book. Loved it.

Happens to all of us!

Hi Laurie

I've tagged you in the 'six random things' game (sorry, I don't know many bloggers, but I have been lurking on yours for a while so I'm afraid you're 'it'). Take a look at my blog for the details.

It is especially fun when you are in Direct Sales, you've successfully signed someone on with the confidence that you are going to mentor them and train them, so you are trying to be such the pro...and then forget to attach all of the mind blowing informational things that are going to change their life and make them JUST LIKE YOU! Like forgetful?

Wow. Welcome to my life. I sent out close to thirty packages to three different county clerk offices and forgot every single enclosed attachment.. but I did remember to add my spiffy business card so all thirty offices could call and yell at me for sending them absolutely nothing relevant.

to Liz R. - hahahaha i was looking all over for the attachment ... duh.

hehehehe. I hate when that happens!

I have done that sooo many times. :)

If it makes you feel better, here are some related tidbits:
1- I am a Certified Administrative Professional
2- despite being all fancy-certified and such, I used to forget attachments on my emails all the time
3- the only reason I don't forget attachments anymore is because I always open the attachments that I am about to send before I send the email, just to make sure I attached the correct document(s). Ask me why I do that...
4- I also have a bi-polar email voice: one with all of the 'attached for your reference' and 'please feel free to contact me if I can provide assistance' and such, and one with the 'Ack! My bad!' and 'eek, the email gremlins ate my last message!' and such.

Pardon me while I have a laugh at your expense...hahaha...(no, I've never done anything like that before, no, not me, never...)

I always enjoy visiting here for a good belly laugh. I hope you have time to read my funny knitting story today, titled "Knitting, by Simplicity"!

arghghg. I hate that; gives people too much time to reflect on whether I am a qualified worker-bee. My trick is I don't put the person's email address (or at least try not to) in the 'to' field until I've reviewed and attached. Sometimes works, sometimes not. BIG le sigh.

I know that not including mentioned attachments is embarrassing (because I've done that), but not nearly as embarrassing as accidentally sending a sex joke about senior citizens to a VP of a fortune five hundred client. That was awesome.

I immediately sent an apology email and didn't hear back from him for four hours - he said that he couldn't not laugh at a joke (that was so funny), especially considering that he received it in error and he knew that someone was likely sweating bullets over it.

RE: the Reply to All

A few years back, I was on the other end of that. I'd sent some info on a problem account to a manager, and she forwarded it to someone to handle, adding "If you want something needlessly complicated, just send it to (My Name Here)". And hit Reply to All, instead of Forward.

I sent her a rather pithy explanation of why I didn't think it was "needlessly" complicated, and BOY, was she embarrassed! She sent me a PROFOUNDLY apologetic email, and was really nice to me after that, right up to the time she left the position.

I don't know anyone with a work-email address who hasn't done that at some point.