Office Spaces
Most of you that work in an office have probably been at it for several years. I'm SURE that you have seen your fair share of typos and possibly even committed a few in that time.
I'm starting to see this as a real problem though. It takes 30 seconds to proofread your emails before you click "Send". I really believe that it is extremely unprofessional to send a document or email that has spelling and grammatical errors. But most of the time, if I read an email that has errors, I lose a little respect for that person and gain about 3 minutes of a good laugh. So if this happens ALL THE TIME, you can imagine the amount of respect I have for several people that I've worked with (and the amount of laughter that happens at my desk).
I do think this only applies to the workplace. I don't think anything personal should have to be immaculate. I just think in a professional setting, you should write professionally.
Of course, "their", "they're" and "there" or "your" and "you're"are always problematic, but I blame laziness. It seems like people have gotten to the point where whichever one they think of first gets thrown out there. They don't bother to think if it's the right one to use. But explain these to me...
"...we know what's at steak here." Mm. Steak. What are we talking about?
"Appon reviewing your purchase order..." It's so simple. Up. On. Upon. Where does that "a" come from and why?
"I apologies for the error..." And I apologize that you are probably the reason there was an error in the first place.
"Thank you for your kind PO." I was unaware that paperwork had the potential to be kind. Did it say "thank you" after you read it?
"In the Sothern California branch..." I had a manager at an old job - that's right a MANAGER who refused to put a "u" in Southern California. Every. Single. Email/PowerPoint/Report. Seriously?
My favorite is asking questions with a period at the end.
"Can we discuss." I'm sorry. I didn't realize the question mark was so far away from the period that you couldn't bother with it.
Or sentences that make you read them twice and go "huh?"
"If you would please review and make sure I have any info correct, or I have not left anything you may know to be different."
Now I KNOW I am not perfect and I have definitely made a few errors in my day but consider this: we go to school for 13 years (if we make it through High School) and EVERY SINGLE YEAR we have to take English. Do you think our society is trying to hammer something into our brains???
Now that I've gotten off my high horse, let me just say that I know this blog probably has some typos and I cringe internally when I read something that I've posted that has an error. Feel free to rub those in my face, just don't make any errors in that email/comment where you point them out. Otherwise, I'll laugh in yours.
I'm starting to see this as a real problem though. It takes 30 seconds to proofread your emails before you click "Send". I really believe that it is extremely unprofessional to send a document or email that has spelling and grammatical errors. But most of the time, if I read an email that has errors, I lose a little respect for that person and gain about 3 minutes of a good laugh. So if this happens ALL THE TIME, you can imagine the amount of respect I have for several people that I've worked with (and the amount of laughter that happens at my desk).
I do think this only applies to the workplace. I don't think anything personal should have to be immaculate. I just think in a professional setting, you should write professionally.
Of course, "their", "they're" and "there" or "your" and "you're"are always problematic, but I blame laziness. It seems like people have gotten to the point where whichever one they think of first gets thrown out there. They don't bother to think if it's the right one to use. But explain these to me...
"...we know what's at steak here." Mm. Steak. What are we talking about?
"Appon reviewing your purchase order..." It's so simple. Up. On. Upon. Where does that "a" come from and why?
"I apologies for the error..." And I apologize that you are probably the reason there was an error in the first place.
"Thank you for your kind PO." I was unaware that paperwork had the potential to be kind. Did it say "thank you" after you read it?
"In the Sothern California branch..." I had a manager at an old job - that's right a MANAGER who refused to put a "u" in Southern California. Every. Single. Email/PowerPoint/Report. Seriously?
My favorite is asking questions with a period at the end.
"Can we discuss." I'm sorry. I didn't realize the question mark was so far away from the period that you couldn't bother with it.
Or sentences that make you read them twice and go "huh?"
"If you would please review and make sure I have any info correct, or I have not left anything you may know to be different."
Now I KNOW I am not perfect and I have definitely made a few errors in my day but consider this: we go to school for 13 years (if we make it through High School) and EVERY SINGLE YEAR we have to take English. Do you think our society is trying to hammer something into our brains???
Now that I've gotten off my high horse, let me just say that I know this blog probably has some typos and I cringe internally when I read something that I've posted that has an error. Feel free to rub those in my face, just don't make any errors in that email/comment where you point them out. Otherwise, I'll laugh in yours.
