Communication Pet Peeves

Despite, or perhaps because of, the advances in technology, there are several things that annoy me when communicating, or not, with people.

Acknowledgement
It takes so little to acknowledge someone.

In most email programs there is something called a signature, which adds whatever information you want to an email.

I have a signature for almost every occasion, which means I do not have to type out the same message each time someone emails me looking to promote his event, for example.

I simply click a signature, which greats the person and tells them I have forwarded their email to a managing editor, with that editor’s email address. I always personalize the email with the sender’s name, respond to specific questions or add condolences or congratulations when necessary.

It takes a couple of minutes and people always email back to say thank you for responding so quickly.

Voicemail
There is nothing worse than reaching someone’s voicemail only to hear they are in the office today and to leave a message.

Are they in the office or are they on vacation?

I change my voicemail every day. I figure if I am sick one day, the fact my voicemail says yesterday’s date is an indication I am not t here. My voicemail also tells people how to reach someone who can help them.

This is not a pet peeve but rather a note to self.
Not everyone remembers to take out people’s personal message before forwarding an email along.

So while it’s tempting to make a smart-mouthed comment to your coworker, you might want to rethink that strategy unless you are OK with everyone, including the author, reading your words.