Question

Topic: Other

Management Question - Dealing W/ Little Mistakes

Posted by doggie1979 on 4/21/2011 at 9:38 AM ET 25 Points
So in marketing, no matter how small (a misspelling in an email campaign, for example) our mistakes are very public and very quick to be called out by anyone and everyone who sees them.

When you have an employee who makes a mistake such as this, how do you deal with it? It's bound to happen to all of us at some point or another. And it certainly is an alert that more attention needs to be paid to the work. But how do you actually bring it up, to make sure they're aware it has been noticed but not make them feel like the world is ending? I have found that usually they feel guilty enough about it they punish themselves in their own minds :). So how much more do I need to say?

Suggestions?
To continue reading this question and the solution, sign up ... it's free!
SUBSCRIBE
Or, SIGN IN

RESPONSES

  • Posted by doggie1979 on 4/21/2011 at 9:53 AM Author
    This was my response when forwarding the email where someone noticed the mistake:

    "Just an FYI, not the end of the world. We just need to make sure we're double checking work and putting our best foot forward in the future."

    Do you think that was appropriate for a first offense? In general this employee has it together for the most part. I think he was just rushing. I've pulled the email exchange over to his file.
  • Posted by michael on 4/21/2011 at 10:14 AM Accepted
    Email is a tough thing because it has gotten so casual. It should not, but it is. Double checking doesn't always help. A second pair of eyes often does.

    Help this person walk thru the best and worst case scenario of the mistake. No dire warnings, just a reinforcement of the cautions you've always shared.

    Michael
  • Posted by StarsDie on 4/21/2011 at 11:25 AM Accepted
    Grammatical correctness is actually quite a rare thing these days. Many people make mistakes, and that’s okay. You can be a good manager and still make mistakes.
    The thing is that there are some typos or minor grammatical mistakes that don’t irritate the eyes, and the recipient will read and move on. No biggie, after all.

    People who do logistics, bookkeeping, customer service and other work in a company and don’t have to present perfect scripts are better concentrate on their work. It is, of course, great if they write without mistakes, but it’s not the main thing for them.

    And those employees who prepare company presentations, write PR articles, work out product catalogues, submit reviews, develop press-releases etc. have to be literate, i.e. possess a gift for writing – have perfect style and ability to do huge editing, translation and analytical work – all these points make for company’s success. So for such positions, you should hire people with high level of literacy and great writing skills. And such people will be responsible for what they write and how they write it.

    And if you want to raise the general level of literacy in the office, you can order a course of studies from some educational company. Say, 3-months program to improve grammar. I’m sure people won’t object.
  • Posted by doggie1979 on 4/21/2011 at 11:38 AM Author
    Thanks everyone, very helpful.
BACK TO TOP

Post a Comment

Related Discussions

Community Info

Top 25 Experts
(Other)