Say It Like You Mean It

Sometimes I really wonder about the people I work with at my job. Yes, I wonder about my co-workers, but I also wonder about our clients.

We've got a new person who started about a month ago in probably the most difficult position in the company. She's doing pretty well, all things considered, but there are some things she hasn't learned, yet, simply because there's SO much to learn.

Today, after she'd already been dealing with multiple rounds of questions from the same author - to which she'd already explained exactly what is happening with one of her services - the author sent another response. But, for absolutely no reason, the author decided to copy me on the email which she sent.

Now, here's the thing: A lot of our authors copy random people on emails. I don't think they do it by accident, and I don't think they do it to truly try to get help. I think they figure they'll either catch the first person in a lie, or get people to gang up and put pressure on the first person to get things done.

So, when she emailed saying that she "didn't mean to be rude or disrespectful" and then was exactly that, I'm pretty sure that she copied me on the email to point out how "bad" my co-worker is at her job, and to get me to jump on the bandwagon of getting more done. Boy, was she wrong.

You see, as anyone who has worked with me in the past knows, I'm pretty protective of the people I work with - especially those who are in some ways in need of help.

I decided to take the time to respond to the author. I congratulated her on how her process has gone. I thanked her for her kind words about how well we all have been doing our jobs. And I praised my co-worker on how great she's been doing, even though she's new. Basically, I just spread a ton of sunshine. No "tone" in any of it, except for saying that my co-worker was new, but had been hired because we had faith in her abilities.

And then, in a "ps" after my signature, I pointed out that the author - though certainly not meaning to be rude or disrespectful - had been misspelling my co-worker's name in every single email she had sent.

Apparently she got the point. She replied almost immediately saying that she apologized for any perceived "tone" in her emails, saying that she really hopes that we can all work together and move forward.

I wonder if she'll ever blithely copy me on any of her emails, again? After all, we're all getting along so well, now.