Making it plural
Writers sometimes stumble over how to make words plural. Here are two tricky situations: 1. Family and brand names. 2. Decades and other numbers.
Category: Communication
Streamline e-mail processing
Streamliine email processing by having a single address for your boss and you.
Social networking: quality, not quantity
These days, social networking—through LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter—is how many people make and strengthen their connections. Maribeth Kuzmeski, author of The Connectors, says that using a few simple rules of thumb can help make your social networking more efficient.
1-Minute Strategies: Feb. ’11
Let your body language broadcast your confidence … Keep track of your “must read” pile with Delicious.com. It’s a particularly useful tool for longer-term storage of important articles, and you can access it from any device … On your résumé, list accomplishments, not just job duties.
Make a snappy comeback
Didn’t have the right snappy comeback to a colleague’s subtle put-down or the boss’s accusatory comment? “You have to be able to respond on your feet at work, and I think some people are becoming less adept at it,” says Kathleen Kelley Reardon. Some of her suggestions for comebacks:
Married to a work-spouse
While some people feel “married” to their jobs, others may feel married to a colleague with whom they spend many long hours—or to the boss they support. A relationship with a “workplace spouse” can be an intense, intimate connection. A recent survey by Captive Networks reveals the nature of workplace “marriages.”
Is it first? Or is it 1st?
Which of these is correct? 1. Please book my reservation for Saturday, June 1st. 2. Please book my reservation for Saturday, June first. 3. Please book my reservation for Saturday, June 1.
Perilous pitfalls of texting for business
Do you often text to communicate with colleagues or the boss? If so, keep your professionalism intact. Business communications trainer Barbara Pachter offers these suggestions for making texting suitable for business:
We’re all on the same team … aren’t we?
For all the talk of teamwork in corporate America, your co-workers should be oozing with collaboration. Right? Yet that’s often not the case. What do you do about another administrative pro who gives you the cold shoulder? How do you draw more collaboration out of that co-worker?
Be explicit in your writing
Sometimes, a general word isn’t clear enough when writing e-mail or other correspondence. Use defining words to make sure the reader clearly understands what you’re saying, advises Craig Hogan, author of Explicit Business Writing: