2025 Jan-Feb RETA Breeze

ask something that forces me to respond. If you want to brief me on a situation, call me. Two-way conversation. I’m not very bright and I’ll have questions anyway. Never send me a cc memo by mail. I have to deal with it. I need to read it or file it or both. You’ve obligated me to at least 5 minutes out of my day. Don’t email me if your pissed at me. If I’ve upset you in some way via email or text, rest assured I didn’t mean to. I only piss people off in person. If you’re upset with me, call me or see me in person. Tone is next to impossible to put into an email. I will try to assume you’re not yelling at me, but I would rather not guess. Chances are I will misinterpret your email and then get pissed at you. Don’t be vague. Say what you need to say. Don’t try to be cute and don’t play guessing games. Tell me what you want. If I can give it to you I will, If I can’t give it to you I won’t. I need clear direction, if you don’t have it, that’s ok. Think about it and contact me later. No need to rush and drive me crazy now, just gather your thoughts and we can start again later. Don’t email me just to make someone else happy. I hate getting emails, sent to impress

MEMOS OF MISUNDERSTANDING

I really get excited when a new memo is sent down to maintenance. That normally means I have more scrap paper for the kids. Sometimes, it means a colorful paper air- plane depending upon the type of paper they use. Rarely does it mean that some thing exciting is going to happen to improve my life. More likely, my work life will be getting more difficult. Sometime the memo is an email, that is a little better, at least I know a tree didn’t have to die to piss me off. I’m assuming that there is always a reason to send me the memo. I just can’t figure out what it is sometimes. Sometimes, I don’t even bother to read them. You normally get a paragraph to get my attention, on a good day. So why send us the memos at all? I get that memos via paper or email, are a great way to get the information out. But please, look at the audience your sending it to. Here are the rules, I think we need to implement. Does this need to be sent? Why are you sending the communication. If

the reason has nothing to do with me, don’t send it to me. Will the situation resolve itself without a memo? I sometimes get emails that say things like “Wanted to let you know Bob will be calling you”. Bob can tell me that when he calls me. Maybe if you need to assure that Bob does contact me, you can contact Bob and say “please send me a confirmation after you have talked to Tim”. Do I need to know? Make sure I need to know. “we will be closed Christmas day”. Unless you think I would have some reason to believe you would want me to come open the plant up on Christmas. You probably don’t need to let me know. I’ve probably picked it up in a meeting already, or when I look at the schedule and notice I’m not scheduled (nor is anyone else). If I really need to know send it to me. If I don’t, respect my day. Don’t copy me. Only email me if you want me to take action. If you want me in the loop in case something bad happens later, don’t bother, I’m going to make an excuse later anyway. If you really want to make sure I’m in the loop,

8 RETA.com