2025 Jan-Feb RETA Breeze

someone else. We’ve all gotten those communications which are obviously sent to satisfy someone who couldn’t bring themselves to contact me directly. Don’t be someone else’s stooge. Let them do their dirty work. Courtesy only goes so far. I love Vern, but his emails drive me crazy. “Good Morning”, “I hope my message finds you well”, “Have a great day”, and the famous “I hope you and yours are doing well”. He does it because he is a nice guy who doesn’t want his emails to be mean. But it adds time to my day because I read the fluff. While it is important to be cordial, don’t over do it. These items would be a good start. But it’s just a start. Think about your communications and what you’re trying to say. Read it back to yourself through my ears. If it sounds offensive, it is. “We must stop weed smoking in the parking lot”. Ok this sounds odd, but if you send this to me, it says you believe I’m

smoking pot in the parking lot. Do you want my helping in stopping weed smoking in the parking lot? Are you asking me to confiscate your lighter? Miscommuni cation can apply to a hundred other things. Make sure your communications are not accusatory. If your are accusing me of something be direct. “Bob, I noticed your smoking weed in the parking lot. Stop it!” “Given current construction activities, what safeguards are being contemplated to alleviate concerns?” What part of construction activities? Crane lifts, line breaks, contractor access, etc…… Be specific. What concerns? Food Safety, opera tions, sales, etc… A much better message would read something like this: “Given the scheduled crane lifts over the receiver area, what safeguards are we putting in place to assure some A-hole doesn’t drop the new condenser on my receiver?”The first sentence may prompt a book as a response, with the responder trying to cover all potential issues. In some instances, this may require the message receiver to get dozens of additional people involved to try to answer this very vague question. The

second sentence prompts a very specific, very direct response. For those who receive communications, give the sender a break, don’t assume that they are targeting you. We have all received a message sent to 50 people and we read it like, it was directed specifically to us. Give the sender the benefit of a doubt. Several years ago, a refrigeration manager turned in his notice because of a memo he received. When I heard about the situation, I met with the refrigeration Manager. My first sentence “Junior, you know the corporate guy that sent that memo has no idea who you are or what you do. There is no way he was attacking you, he doesn’t know you.” Junior decided to stay in the position. It seems like we burned the memo in the parking lot and went out for a beer. In closing, while it’s important to be careful of the communications we send, it is equally important that we be careful in how we interpret the communications we receive. Good communications are the responsibility of all of us.

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