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Subject: |
Getting Along in the Office: How to Leave Messages, and Meet and Greet |
| Date: |
2007-10-15
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Getting Along in the Office: How to Leave Messages, and Meet and Greet
By Ruth Haag
www.RuthHaag.com
Our modern messaging technology is so nice and quick that we have fallen into a too-casual usage of it, which often makes it difficult for the message recipient.
This casualness has spread to meeting people face-to-face, where an assumption is made that everyone recognizes and remembers the name of everyone else.
Some Bad Message Examples
An E-mail read:
"Just fax the invoice to me and I'll take care of it."
What was the fax number, I wondered? I E-mailed back with the question.
The next E-mail read:
"The fax number is on the bottom of the E-mail."
But it wasn't. I E-mailed this back.
The last E-mail read:
"It was on the bottom of the E-mail that I sent you last month."
Sigh. Why couldn't she have just sent the fax number to me with the first E-mail?
A voicemail message said:
"Give me a call back at my office."
But I was out of town with my cell phone, and did not know their office number.
A voice mail said:
"Hi, it's Jen."
But I couldn't remember who Jen was.
A person sees me coming in the door and calls out:
"Hi, Ruth."
Who could that possibly be? I wonder. I meet many new people each week. Did I meet this person, or did they see my name and picture somewhere?
Polite Modern Communication Rules
There are a few simple rules that will take you from being the annoyance with your voice mails, E-mails, and face-to-face meetings, to being a helpful and polite person.
For Voice Mail Messages:
- Always give your complete name, and the name of your company
- If it is someone who might not know you, reiterate where you met
- Leave your telephone number twice, once at the start and once at the end
- Make the message brief but to the point
For E-mail messages:
- Always lead off by reiterating the topic that is being discussed
- Always attach all of your contact information at the end
- Use complete sentences, and punctuate properly.
For Face-to-Face Meetings:
- Stick out your hand for a handshake, stating your name, your company name and why the person might know you
- Don't use someone's name unless you are sure of it
About the author: Ruth Haag (www.RuthHaag.com) helps managers and employees understand the dynamics of the work environment, and how to function smoothly within it. She is the President/CEO of Haag Environmental Company. She has written a four-book business series: "Taming Your Inner Supervisor", "Day-to-Day Supervising", "Hiring and Firing", and "Why Projects Fail." Her enjoyable, easy-to-read books provide a look at life the way it is, rather than the way that you might think it should be. Permission granted for use on DrLaura.com.
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