Thank you for your feedback and it is annoying especially when you take into account that the younger generation can send a 1000 word text message in 1.3 seconds lol.
Why is it so hard to say Dear Dave or Hi Dave thank you for the sent information and then ask the question? I know from time to time our tutors just get emails with assignments with no introduction at all, I even had a reply which said nothing more than 01010101010101 (which was a binary telephone number not the real one) Re more information? Its nothing more than bad manners as far as I am concerned and like you Mark makes my blood boil and have to count to 10 as well.
Neil I sold my soul to Training Link ten years ago lol.
Dave
-- Edited by TRAINING LINK on Thursday 14th of February 2013 08:13:33 PM
Since the age of the Iphone and sending emails by mobile telephone have we lost the art of professionalism and common courtesy? Or am I just an old fashioned stick in the mud who needs to get a grip of the ways of the modern world? It is becoming more and more common when contacting new potential students who require course information that they reply without a Dear Dave or a Hi Dave but just go straight into a question. Now I thought being a Bookkeeper or Accountant required a certain level of professional courtesy.
So tell me am I right to expect the same courtesy as I give potential students or are we really a MONKEY ON A STICK who can be addressed as people see fit? If this is the modern way thank god I am old fashioned when it comes to common courtesy. End of gripe.
I'm with you. A certain amount of courtesy is always required.
Any communication on a professional level, should have a salutation. I generally write my first email as if it were a letter (Dear Sir/ Yours faithfully, Dear Mr XXXX/ Yours sincerely etc) Then I will adopt the reply style. If it stays formal, I stay formal, if it is more relaxed, I might go to a "Hi Xxxx", and finish with "Regards". It will also depend on how well I have got to know the other person.
In emails I will always start Dear xxx, Hi xxx or Good morning/afternoon xxx as it seems so unprofessional to start any other way. Like Bill, it often depends on how well I know the other person.
All too often I receive emails without a proper beginning, just straight into the request/demand, which always gets my back up before I have even read what has been written and then I have to count to at least 10 before I start my reply.
Having recently had to be in more or less constant contact with an assessor, i always start each email and all email replies with 'Hi' when addressing the assessor.
Maybe it is an age thing Dave. Maybe the youngsters have paid and now they 'own' you lol
Dave I'm 100 percent with you on this one!!! The standards of communication are seriously deteriorating.
I always believe that when communicating in business you should always promote your personal brand because you don't know what's around the corner. E.g. Never write anything you don't mind being circulated around the internet which these days is like your writing being published in a book! Also, what happens if you communicate in that style then an amazing opportunity arises at that company and you've jeopardised it because you've not paid attention to your communication! I have to say the same for social networking too. I've seen some shocking language on sites such as Twitter from our future 'professionals'.
This week I've had many one liners. "I can't access my course online". Who are you? What course are you studying? .....
And tonight "where are the exam venues?". Who are you? What qualification are you studying and where in the world do you live!...
Apart from being irritating, we're less efficient!
But I have to confess, I've added this to our team meeting agenda just this week. A reminder to the team that regardless of the standards of communication from others, this is the standard that we work to! It's far to easy to mirror what you're receiving!
I have to add that some methods of testing communication skills is very poor so is it any wonder that this happens?
Rant over Sonya
p.s it's Friday and I've had a drinkypoo just in case you're testing me lol hehehehe.
I always tell my kids 'manners maketh man'! They think I am mad and I tell them manners cost nothing but go along way in life and don't forget it!!!!!
We had one child round for dinner a long time ago, well hes never coming again, no please or thank-you's not even a thank-you when I dropped him off, he just got out of the car and shut the door!!!!
I think the manners have gone with kids today, and dare I say it part of its social media and the other part is bad parenting, there is no guidance or old fashioned values in today's society. They have everything that they want except any manners! Luckily all my kids' friends are polite and well mannered (the one that was not is no longer a friend). Maybe its twitter that's got people sending very short and curt emails, after all you only have so many characters on twitter. That's why Shaun's not on it, he can't keep it short and sweet!!! lol
I generally start with Hi or Good Morning/Afternoon. I think Dear is too formal for email, but will always use it in a letter. It's not a lack of manners or rudeness, just the natural progression of the language. Email seems to have become more conversational and far less formal than maybe it once was. I never sign off an email with yours sincerely or yours faithfully either, always regards or kind regards depending on my mood.
Thank you for your feedback, its funny but if we adopted the same Modern Way of communication how many complaints would we receive and how long would we stay in business? And Sonya the one liner seem to be a common thing for us Distance Learning Training Providers and in our course notes which are clear and precise we always tell students when sending in assignments to state the module they are returning but do they? If you are taking a distance learning course then surly you do not skip read? The amount of calls I get asking who is the tutor is amazing when this information is on page 2 of course notes and instructions, but as we are providing a service we have to be polite when really I want to scream lol, but it is the tutors who suffer when not only do they have to mark assignments they have to become Sherlock Holmes and work out what student has sent in their assignment, which is usually worked out by email address!!!!!
Amanda, I wonder when the friend came round for dinner did they also have a mobile telephone stuck to their hand as well? Which is something my now grown up children always seem to have when they come for dinner, are we now prisoners to the mobile and internet lol? Even professional bodies are sending the none introduction email, its rude and scandalous.
My first introduction email always says Dear and then Hi and Like Kris ends with Kind Regards. And Shaun in his absence to a reply to this thread must be one of the guilty ones lol, only Joshing Shaun.
There was an interesting thread on the ICB Forum with regards to a mentoring service to newly qualified Bookkeepers, if you get the chance to have a look would love to hear your thoughts on this?
Have a great weekend all
Dave
-- Edited by TRAINING LINK on Saturday 16th of February 2013 07:59:39 AM
you only have so many characters on twitter. That's why Shaun's not on it, he can't keep it short and sweet!!! lol
Oh so very true Amanda,
I think that I must also be one of the few who sends texts in full English (well, except for lol which seems to have been promoted to being a word in it's own right).
Hi Dave,
Now the above is an example of an acceptable form of reply in that one is showing what is being responded to and addressing the poster in the first line.
It does not however start with Hi, Hello, dear, etc. as there is in this instance no requirement for it but such does not make it unprofessional in this context.
If writing the first post of a thread or responding in the non familiar form then I am with the general flow of this thread in that one must always shows resect to the reader of the correspondence by acknowledging them as a person (I even go and look up the real name rather than the site userid).
We do have a few cases on this site (won't mention names) where people ask questions by going straight into the question. They do not say Hi, they do not say please and when an answer is posted they do not repost to say thankyou.
From my perspective I think of it as for each question posted there are a dozen people scratching their heads with a similar cunnundrum so every answer given is not to the poster but to the site.
If it was only to the poster or in the case of a training company a single student they would get a very short (if any) response as the form of the question shows a lack of respect to the person one is asking the question of.
kind regards,
Shaun.
__________________
Shaun
Responses are not meant as a substitute for professional advice. Answers are intended as outline only the advice of a qualified professional with access to all relevant information should be sought before acting on any response given.
Love it. May I bow to your regal response. I must admit that when I get an email with no introduction I have been known to respond in the same manner, this is not a grammar issue just a common courtesy one.
