I was chatting with an old colleague of mine who was cribbing endlessly that he spends more time in replying/checking/follow-up emails rather than getting some work done. Today I decided to see how much time I spend in office doing same activity. Unfortunately today I was not able to perform this experiment as the number of emails that I received was marginally less. (The day is not over yet, but I am not checking my emails anymore.) But nonetheless, I found few catch phrases which annoy me endless and certain conversations which bring some sanity back into my job.
Annoyance:
"Please correct me if I am wrong" : I hate this phrase with a vengeance. The guy who wrote this email, was explaining a feature which he is supposed to know. Technically. But here is the kicker. If there is one tiny mistake in the explanatory email, then the concerned audience in the "To" list will rip him apart and the repercussions of the actions are slightly disturbing. So people write this statement and mark a copy to people (read:morons) who are aware of what they are talking. So the whole statement is now translated to: "
There is a high probability that whatever I am writing is incorrect. If you don't get an addendum email from the person in "cc", then most probably I am right. If I am wrong and you still don't get corrected email, then blame the person who is copied in the email."
I called up the guy and asked him - "
What am I? Your mommy?"
The idiot simply laughed. I doubt he understood my sarcasm.
Happy:
I got this call in the afternoon. "
M, there is a drop in finance projection for next quarter by approximately 9K. Tell me why."
See this statement? There is no dilly-dallying and the question is right on target. Of course background is lacking but when it comes to questions on finance, there is always something or the other lacking. In next two minutes I was in Net Meeting and sharing screen and checking for any mistakes. The guy who called me gave me few minutes to think over. And then the answer clicked and I gave him my response. The entire conversation took about five minutes and he had got the answer that he needed and my migraine didn't complain.
Impressed:
I like the way the quality guy writes his emails. "
M, I received your project plan. Thank you for submitting on committed date. Please expect a feedback from me (reject/accept) by 15:00 tomorrow. " I love the certainty that oozes out of his email. I was kind of relaxed this afternoon so I buzzed him on IM. "
Hey, what do I do if I don't get a response from you? " He didn't respond me for a minute or two. This lag time is expected. "
You will not encounter that scenario. " I just replied a hurried "
OK. Thanks." I like people who give an absolute answer rather than an ambiguous one. I, for one, would have replied "
If everything goes as per my plan tomorrow and for the rest of the day, there is a high probability that your plan might be accepted by end of business unless a higher proiority/critical task gets assigned to me."
Seriously, I should stop being so diplomatic/politically correct and start answering in Boolean.
Confused:
"
M, you will like it here. SFO is so beautiful and for a person like you, who dislikes driving car and prefers walking or taking subway, this city is ideal." OK. The statement seemed very innocent. But my hands stilled on the keyboard. What did he mean by "...you will like it here..". Was it something that a person says - "I was in this restaurant today and I think you will like it there"? Like referring something? Or was it along the lines of - "Its a good town and its something you need to visit in future". Its odd as he knows that I am working with a Swiss account so travelling to US is close to nil.
I am kind of avoiding the alternate explanation.
For now.
Labels: daily life, Time Pass
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