When shouldn't I hit reply all?

It is amazing how many people when they get an email message that is an FYI have to do a reply all to it. In a lot of ways, what people should do if they are sending out a general email as an announcement is sent it to themselves and blind copy everyone else. In that way, it means that not everyone is going to get the multiple replies that are going to be sent.  If you receive this type of emails at work or home, think before you hit reply all because you end up just getting a lot of people frustrated because of the number of emails suddenly start filling up their inbox.

Another time that you shouldn’t hit reply all is when a person as asked everyone to simply reply to the sender with the details. I had this happen a few times when there was a group of us, and the idea was to select sessions at a conference that you wanted to do to and only send the details to myself. Well, what happened was one person out of the three would hit reply all and then everyone would know what they wanted. It didn’t take me long to change how I sent out that session request. Now it is emailed to myself and then blind copied to everyone else so that it ensures that the email only comes back to me.

Understanding when to use blind copy when sending out an email is very important. It does mean that when the reply button is selected, only you will be seeing the reply instead of everyone else in the email thread. It also means that no one is going to know who the message was sent to, so that is a great way when you are sending out emails to a group of friends and/or family.

So next time you get a broadcast type of email or an email requesting a reply just be sent to the sender, sit back and think does everyone need to see my message. It is easier to send a couple of seconds making this decision before replying to an email instead of causing frustrations to other individuals.

Acronyms and words

 

This past week I was at a conference and during a lunch break we had a very interesting conversation with regard to acronyms and words in general. We were talking about how one word or acronym can have several meanings. This conversation also leads into how IT people seem to have their own language and a lot of other people have no idea what they are saying.

It was a lot of fun just sitting and listening to some of the conversation because even IT people have a hard time understanding other IT individuals because of the words that they use. We were talking about how you explain something to senior management in terms that they understand and move it away from the technical terms. This conversation was a lot of fun, as I am one of those that doesn’t understand the technical terms very often and need it in simpler terms. It was nice to have this conversation with a bunch of technical people because they agreed with me. Technical people must understand that they have their own language and not everyone will understand what they are saying.

The conversation also went into the messages that IT individuals write for the end-users and how confusing they can be. Most end-users don’t understand the technical terms, but some IT individuals write their messages as if everyone should understand what they are saying and if they don’t that end-user must be stupid. Yes, I have heard someone in IT say that if an end-user doesn’t understand the message, they are just stupid and don’t understand anything. I read a message from this IT person, and even I had a hard time figuring out what they were saying, and I understood the product they were talking about.

I know that this doesn’t just apply to the IT field because most other fields have their own language and terms and if you are not part of that field, it’s hard to follow a discussion. So, when you are talking to someone that is not in your specific expertise remember to try and remove some of the terms that are unique and put in some different words, and it might help everyone.

 

Creativity behind a zoom meeting

The last four years have seen a big change in how meetings are held. Before, everyone was in the same room, and you were able to talk to everyone before and even after the meetings. Now, a lot of meetings for businesses are help via the internet and through some meeting platform. Most people are in their own locations, so there isn’t the talking before and after and even during the meetings. Meetings are probably a lot more focused because there aren’t the side conversations that normally happened when the meetings were in person.

One thing that I have heard is that people are enjoying meetings a little more now because they are either shorter or everyone doesn’t have to be on camera all the time or even have their microphones on. The one advantage of not having to be on camera is you can do something else while attending the meeting, especially if your job is to just listen to it. I know that a lot of the webinars that I attend we aren’t on camera, so I normally have something else that I am doing with my hands.

For individuals that are crafters, the virtual meetings are a great time to pick up a simple project and work on it. I know that for me, it helps keep my hands away from the keyboard, but it helps me focus on what is being discussed. The other thing that virtual meetings are good for is getting things organized that you have been trying to do. Yes, you are there and listening to the conversation or presentation, but you can get something else done at the same time.

Creativity can happen during a meeting when it’s virtual. Sure, if you are key to the meeting, you won’t be doing the crafting but at least other’s that are just there to listen they can be doing something to help keep them focused. I don’t know how many things that I have worked on during all the different webinars and meetings that I have been part of, but I know that I have been able to focus a lot better on what is being said. Yes, I am careful with what I select to work on so that I don’t lose the focus, but at least I can avoid getting lost on the internet because my hands are away from the mouse, and I am a lot happier.

If someone says that they were crafting during a meeting, and it helped them focus on the conversation, it can be true. A simple project that you don’t need to focus your attention on can mean that meetings are a lot easier to attend, and you get more out of the meeting as well. Creativity is happening behind a virtual meeting and as long as it doesn’t impact the meeting who can complain.