Monday, August 23, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
KISS at Work
Writing emails at work can be thought of as an art form... You don't want to sound too monotonous, nor do you want to be too lavish with your words and so you have to use the Occum's Razor approach: i.e. KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID (K.I.S.S) - but not too stupid.
For example, when writing to my line manager, I use casual diction and abbreviate often, "K, what did u think of the AOP meeting?"
When writing to the division head, I am more formal but still bordering on conversational like "Okay, let's meet about filling in the gaps to the..."
When talking to people outside my department, I greet them formally (if it is a first email) and proceed with professional language, avoiding slang and abbreviated words except for the occasional FYI,FYA,ASAP.
When talking to Senior Management, here is where is gets tougher- they don’t have time to read lengthy and wordy emails, you have to get straight to the point, however, your brevity cannot eat away at the message you are delivering. You might fall into the trap of failing to deliver the message appropriately, and this is when making the message too simple make you look stupid.
If you find yourself typing away without a clear structure in mind to what you are trying to say, always remember that all emails have an objective! The subject title should describe in one word or a short phrase what the email topic is about. Again, choosing the right subject title is often tough.
When I first started working I was told emails are the perfect way to communicate, it documents everything. When I first started typing emails I would think long and hard about what to write- I would type, proof read, re-read, and then hesitate to click send. Eventually though, I picked up on a rhythm, got comfortable with a way of typing and it's been working for me... Well at least I haven’t received any complaints as of yet!
Casual and social emails on the other hand.... that is a different story, ask my friends, they know :)
For example, when writing to my line manager, I use casual diction and abbreviate often, "K, what did u think of the AOP meeting?"
When writing to the division head, I am more formal but still bordering on conversational like "Okay, let's meet about filling in the gaps to the..."
When talking to people outside my department, I greet them formally (if it is a first email) and proceed with professional language, avoiding slang and abbreviated words except for the occasional FYI,FYA,ASAP.
When talking to Senior Management, here is where is gets tougher- they don’t have time to read lengthy and wordy emails, you have to get straight to the point, however, your brevity cannot eat away at the message you are delivering. You might fall into the trap of failing to deliver the message appropriately, and this is when making the message too simple make you look stupid.
If you find yourself typing away without a clear structure in mind to what you are trying to say, always remember that all emails have an objective! The subject title should describe in one word or a short phrase what the email topic is about. Again, choosing the right subject title is often tough.
When I first started working I was told emails are the perfect way to communicate, it documents everything. When I first started typing emails I would think long and hard about what to write- I would type, proof read, re-read, and then hesitate to click send. Eventually though, I picked up on a rhythm, got comfortable with a way of typing and it's been working for me... Well at least I haven’t received any complaints as of yet!
Casual and social emails on the other hand.... that is a different story, ask my friends, they know :)
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Night Lights and Returning Memories
A carpet of yellow and white light covers the coastal desert. As the plane descends from its soaring heights, ripping through the clouds unannounced, the incandescent landscape only increases in luminosity- now the carpet becomes a beaming chess board. Streets running perpendicular and parallel, with the occasional roundabouts, invoking a sense of obedience and organization- a logical ordering of life.
As the plane sheds the feet, the memories start flooding in. I can start naming the streets, the McDonalds we used to go to on Wednesdays after school on Heraa St, the beach where we spent our Fridays, and the compound where most of us grew into our adolescence. I peel my eyes away, and sink into the faux-leather seats, readjusting the volume of my i-pod. “Jeddah is beautiful by night,” comes the voice from 4E, “It’s far from the truth of the city,” I respond.
Landing in Jeddah at night is one of those moments in my life where I am entirely captured by the beauty, (I glue my forehead to the window watching in amazement every single time, which makes it a total of over 10 times this year, yet every time feels like my first) yet altogether solemn with it- this Vegas like city sinks like a ton of bricks, “Oh great, back to real life, back to the routine.”
As the plane sheds the feet, the memories start flooding in. I can start naming the streets, the McDonalds we used to go to on Wednesdays after school on Heraa St, the beach where we spent our Fridays, and the compound where most of us grew into our adolescence. I peel my eyes away, and sink into the faux-leather seats, readjusting the volume of my i-pod. “Jeddah is beautiful by night,” comes the voice from 4E, “It’s far from the truth of the city,” I respond.
Landing in Jeddah at night is one of those moments in my life where I am entirely captured by the beauty, (I glue my forehead to the window watching in amazement every single time, which makes it a total of over 10 times this year, yet every time feels like my first) yet altogether solemn with it- this Vegas like city sinks like a ton of bricks, “Oh great, back to real life, back to the routine.”
And then she was back....
After not blogging for a while (thanks Summer 2010), I realized that it's easy for me to detach from the things that I love the most, and be perfectly fine without it (or them). Is that normal? To be fine and happy being detached?! (it's a rhetorical question I am not opening my comment podium up for answering that question, although any thoughts on the matter are welcomed)
Just a thought...
I'll go back to blogging soon, to all my adoring fans who wait impatiently for my posts, I apologize for my disappearing act.
Love,
C
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