After 15 years of practice, why are we still so awful at email?

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After 15 years of practice, why are we still so awful at email?

FromFT Listen to Lucy

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Length:

6 minutes

Released:

Dec 10, 2014

Format:

Podcast episode

Description

Two new trends are emerging in greetings, both bad. Sign-offs are getting worse too, writes Lucy Kellaway. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy

Released:

Dec 10, 2014

Format:

Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

Financial Times management columnist Lucy Kellaway pokes fun at management fads and jargon, and celebrates the ups and downs of office life.

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Leisurely retirement? Think again: When it comes to retirement, are you Buffet, Gates or potato? For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
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Today's punishment is meted out with politesse: A corporate bollocking just isn't the same as it used to be: PR people have taken over and emotion has been outlawed. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
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Tone down the hatred and retain your dignity: This week, Lucy looks at rage, pettiness and rivalry between companies. by FT Listen to Lucy
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Why lies can save your office blushes: The problem with being truthful about missing work is the reason can be embarrassing or implausible. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
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We are not family: 'We' doesn't imply teamwork or even people who like each other. It is just the mundane experience of office life For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
6 min listen
The ups and downs of the daily grind: Do you work well when you are miserable? Are happy workers the most productive? This week, Lucy keeps a diary to see how her moods affect her work. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
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Private parties and shameless schmoozing: The crossover of business and private parties creates problems for the guest. It is helpful to know which sort of do you are at, so you can behave accordingly, says Lucy Kellaway For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
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Just say No to the new managerial cult of Yes: For people in any position of authority the ability to say no is the most important skill there is. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
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Unpolished exchanges put soul into shopping: A local shoe mender has unknowingly supplied me with all the delightful things that large service companies are striving in vain to provide. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
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The joy of fresh stationery, gossip and lattes with lids: A new theory of happiness says the only reliable pleasures in life are the small ones. So what small pleasures can you find in an office? For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
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Motivational memos must make their message clear: Lucy asks 'what is the worst motivational memo ever?' For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
6 min listen
A year of breakthrough thinking from top twaddlists: Lucy gives out her 2007 awards for management nonsense For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
7 min listen
The real reason why there are fewer women at the top: The glass ceiling or labyrinth fall short of explaining why women don't make it to the top. Perhaps, argues Lucy Kellaway, women should look at themselves. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
5 min listen
Some uncharitable thoughts on millionaire generosity: Being generous as a millionaire doesn't make you different to the middle classes, says Lucy Kellaway. An act of true generosity is a rare event whether you are a millionaire or not. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/pri... by FT Listen to Lucy
6 min listen
Put real business on TV and I'll reach for the remote: Business telly, so the newspapers tell us, is 'the new rock and roll'. While it isn't exactly cool, it is increasingly popular. But is it really about business? For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
6 min listen
Accenture's next champion of waffle words: An e-mail from Accenture's group chief executive is troubling because it shows top people write jargon even when they think no clients are looking. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
7 min listen
Google will make recruits less frugal with the truth: Lucy sees reasons for cheer in the new 'world without secrets' For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
6 min listen
I've found the worst employee handbook ever: Forty-one years ago, chairman Mao distributed 900m copies of The Little Red Book to the people of China. A couple of weeks ago, Deloitte distributed thousands of copies of The Little Blue Book of Strategy to its US employees. Apart from the difference ... by FT Listen to Lucy
6 min listen
A bouquet of office barbs: I have been out collecting a botanical array of dangerous workplace blooms, words that can spoil our day, our week - or our career. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
6 min listen
Fleeting pleasures of August without the A-team: There are many reasons to be happy in the office in August - but needless e-mails from control freaks on holiday isn't one of them. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
6 min listen
Strap on the sensors and step out into the future: Imagine a brave new world where electronic tagging of employees brings the study of management out of the dark ages. Lucy Kellaway peeks into a frightening future as scientists strive to answer why some companies and managers are so good - and others s... by FT Listen to Lucy
5 min listen
Board battles won on playing fields: Nearly half of the chief executives of Britain's biggest companies have gained awards for their prowess in the field of sport, says Lucy Kellaway. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
6 min listen
Green holiday that makes me see red: The National Trust gave its 5,000 employees a leap day holiday - but they had to spend time making their own homes more environmentally friendly. Should companies force us to be charitable? For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/... by FT Listen to Lucy
6 min listen
The battle is lost, going forward: Going backward: how the phrase 'going forward' has infected business conversation For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
6 min listen
Take a bracing dip in September's overflowing in-box: Long ago, before e-mail, the return from holiday was a leisurely thing For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
6 min listen
A word in your ear: Listening is really easy - any old fool can do it - so it can't therefore be a key skill for CEOs, argues Lucy Kellaway. So why do so many business leaders go on about it? For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
5 min listen
Secret science of persuasion: Has Lucy been getting it wrong for 600 columns? A US professor in psychology and marketing has explained how some campaigns can work, including plying your audience with caffeine For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
6 min listen
Put an end to the trauma of the telephone: E-mail is much derided for interrupting our day's work, but it is as nothing when compared to the noisy, intrusive, brutal phone. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
6 min listen
The headhunters' disease: Saying anything that makes any sense at all is enough to disqualify one from joining what practitioners call the 'executive search space' For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
6 min listen
Reasons for effing and blinding: This column is about strong language, which explains why it contains some. Swearing can be useful in the office, but there are some rules you should follow. For information regarding your data privacy, visit acast.com/privacy by FT Listen to Lucy
6 min listen

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Why the most successful people just say no: The main difference between yes and no is that one is easy and the other hard, says Lucy Kellaway by FT Listen to Lucy
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Paul Romer’s ‘and’ quota is a false economy: It was wrong to punish someone who tried to get his colleagues to write text that people might conceivably want to read, says Lucy Kellaway by FT Listen to Lucy
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Amy the robot wants my job, but she's no match for me: Voice bot Artificial Amy would represent serious competition if what she produced was halfway decent, but it isn't, says Lucy Kellaway by FT Listen to Lucy
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The dedicated office chatters are being forced out: Everyone will tell you they are too busy to talk — but it is not true, says Lucy Kellaway. Image credit: Chris Tosic by FT Listen to Lucy
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Codes of conduct breach the principles of common sense: Codes of conduct breach the principles of common sense by FT Listen to Lucy
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Robert Kelly’s children remind us how pompous we are at work: Viral video of domestic mishap shows the artificiality of the professional self, says Lucy Kellaway by FT Listen to Lucy
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Should you ever trade on past glories?: Telling others what you did before can be a sign of mediocrity, says Lucy Kellaway. Illustration by Chris Tosic by FT Listen to Lucy
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Sexy and super bland: the rise of the office uniform: What people wear to work at investment banks, management consultancies and top law firms is ridiculous. Individualism is to be avoided at all costs. says Lucy Kellaway. by FT Listen to Lucy
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How to ask for what you want — and get it every time: Start with please and thank you, then spoon on the flattery, says Lucy Kellaway. Image by Chris Tosic by FT Listen to Lucy
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After 15 years of practice, why are we still so awful at email?

After 15 years of practice, why are we still so awful at email?

Description

Titles in the series (100)

More Episodes from FT Listen to Lucy