Email Matters: What’s a Typo or Ten?
Am I the only one on the planet who still cares about proper grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and clarity? I see the whole issue as one of attitude—an attitude of attention to detail and commitment to quality. Actually, just so I can sleep better at night, I took a scientific poll at the hair salon yesterday and discovered the same issues surface there. Let me fill you in on the results.
Here’s what started the whole thing. Two weeks ago, we hired a 23-year-old college graduate with a 3.5 GPA as an administrative assistant. Molly (name changed to protect the naïve) impressed us during the interview process and insisted that she really wanted this job in her field of interpersonal communication. Because we teach email writing classes, we pointed out to her that all our employees have to be careful when communicating with clients—that clients notice errors and sometimes like to play “gotcha.” Our point to her was that everything she sent out needed to be proofed carefully, yada, yada. Her on-the-job coach reported that Molly was a fast learner on all the software and procedures. Other than giving her a little help with punctuation, her supervisor considered Molly to be mastering the job quite well. Imagine our surprise when Molly walked in on day nine and resigned: “I just don’t think this job is a good fit. Commas, semicolons, spelling, typos. Those kinds of things just aren’t all that important to me. They just don’t matter.”
If you sell shoes for a living, they probably don’t. But if you’re a knowledge worker, words are the commerce of ideas.
As several of us stood around the office and alternately laughed and lamented about the wasted time in training her, I reflected on the bigger issue: the issue of attention to detail and commitment to accuracy in whatever work someone does. Getting the right pills in the correct medicine bottle. Adding the passenger’s name to the correct flight reservation. Putting the proper lug nut on the car wheel.
So that’s what I asked about in the hair salon on Saturday. Am I expecting too much for people to care about getting the job done right—that if they teach email writing, they should know where the comma or semicolon goes to make sure the meaning is clear and not reversed? The stylists on duty agreed and had their own story to tell. A new-hire there had been working six weeks; on average, she’d called in at least two days per week, saying she couldn’t make it in on time to meet her appointments for one reason or another. The owner had had to cancel or shuffle all her clients to other stylists. In short, her tenure there was soon coming to an end for the same reasons—lack of commitment, inattention to detail.
Quality in communication comes down to the details. And the details reflect an attitude about our readers and the entire communication process.
Share and Enjoy
No related posts.
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Discussion Area - Leave a Comment