Exit
eWISE
A person that works for me
and is otherwise a lovely
human being comes off as demanding and sometimes overly
familiar in online correspondence (emails, gchats, etc),
sending many brief messages
when one longer one might do,
or a bit of investigation on that
person’s own part might answer
the question. Am I being overly
sensitive? Or should I ask the
person to tweak their habits,
and if so, how? —Inundated
and irritated, NYC
TOP TO BOTTOM: JASON ALDEN/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES; JEFF VESPA/WIREIMAGE/GETTY IMAGES; WIREIMAGE/GETTY IMAGES
Q
It’s too bad that screening
for this sort of behavior isn’t
part of a normal hiring process,
but adjusting an employee’s communication style to fit your needs
is just a part of being a good manager. This person sounds overly
nervous about meeting your expectations and may be relieved
when you set some boundaries.
Next time your gchat starts blowing up, message back something
like, “Can you look into this on
your own and send the rest of your
questions to me in an email?” Just
forcing someone to go through
email rather than gchat can result
in significant self-editing. Take
your time responding, or direct
the more inane questions
to lmgtfy.com.
A
Have a question about electronic etiquette?
Email [email protected].
ENOUGH
ALREADY
totally over.
Things we’re
Facebook privacy
changes
Jon Stewart
winning Emmys
Self-published
books
Jessica Simpson
endorsements
Joseph
Gordon-Levitt
in broody roles
Capelets
Clint
Eastwood jokes
Kale
HUFFINGTON
09.30.12