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12 Dec 2018

A poll of random* folks asking them to comment on The State of  Communication in our Union, yielded some of the following: I wish people would use the word ‘said’ Example: Yes:  “They said ‘This takes too long.’” No:  “They were going, ‘This takes too long.’"Dear God,...

11 Sep 2018

Marble has learned to give feedback in constructive and helpful ways, and she prides herself on maintaining steady communication with her staff.  Good work, Marble. But recently Marble’s new supervisor invited her to a meeting to discuss work assignments.  It seems that the supervisor has ideas...

04 Aug 2018

Maybe you do want to avoid committing to a statement, position, or opinion, but there’s a way to do so that makes your indecision clear and unambiguous. “I’m not sure what I think about this, but…..” If, however, indecision is not your goal, there is a phrase...

12 Jul 2018

Wouldn’t you think that concerns about appropriate and effective emails have been settled by now? But, no.  Voices continue to be raised about messages that are incomplete, incomprehensible, rude, or appear to have been written by a hamster. When faced with criticism, many email writers defend their...

21 May 2018

People don’t read. How else to explain this behavior: Email to Dooney from Enware: Hey, I need to know if you’re running the meeting or if Jengo is doing it.  I want to print the agendas. Also, can we get more copies of the quarterly report?   Email to Enware...

04 May 2018

Are you sabotaging your own communications?   Someone is at fault- is it you? Panet, the owner of a bookstore told me of trouble with Yani, one of her employees.  She’d asked him to restock a few shelves but he hadn’t done so.  When she asked...