How proper is proper? 5

[macmet]

I'm wondering how much attention I should pay to tiny details when submitting a report.

Everything I submit I spend a fairly significant time editing format. For example, I was just doing up a report for my boss and a plant manager of one of our customer's. It was all ready to go, printed, when I noticed at one point I had "Site No:." instead of "Site No.:". So I printed the page off again.

I know that when I read someone's report and I see a spelling mistake or sa table with different formatting from the others, I lose a little bit of respect for it.

Am I just being ridiculous here or are others like me?

 

[Ashereng]

If I'm presenting a technical concept to my engineering peers, it is acceptable to misspell some words, or use poor grammer. However, if I am attempting to convey the same "type" (not neccessarily the same level of detail) of information to upper management, typos & poor grammar detract from my credibility.

So, you believe it is okay to be sloppy with engineers but not "upper management"? Is this sort of like kissing up to the boss? Gee, what a wonderful teammate.

Here's a thought. What happens when your current peer rises up the ranks into upper management?

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."
Albert Einstein
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[melone]

Ashereng, are you serious? You can't possibly believe that I would imply that it's OK to be "sloppy" with my teammates. I use my intended audience as a guide for when to limit my obsessive-compulsive attention to detail.

Are you telling me that it if you were presenting something to the CEO of your company, you wouldn't spend a more time making sure all of the i's where dotted, and the t's where crossed?

Having said that, I STILL believe, that I should do everything in my power to make all of my presentations as error free as possible. Knowing my intended audience is how I decide when to stay up all night proof-reading.

 

[kchayfie]

Your peers are better placed to judge the technical content and so are more likely to overlook spelling/grammar/presentation mistakes. Senior managers, sales people, etc may be less able to tell whether the technical content is correct and will subconsciously infer general intelligence and hence techical capability from the things they understand, e.g. spelling.

 

[Ashereng]

melone,

Ashereng, are you serious? You can't possibly believe that I would imply that it's OK to be "sloppy" with my teammates.

If I'm presenting a technical concept to my engineering peers, it is acceptable to misspell some words, or use poor grammer. However, if I am attempting to convey the same "type" (not neccessarily the same level of detail) of information to upper management, typos & poor grammar detract from my credibility.

I don't know what you are implying. You posted that if you are presenting a technical concept to your engineering peers, it is acceptable to misspell some words and use poor grammar. I am merely going by your posting.


I do not believe it is acceptable to misspell some words, or to use poor grammar, depending on the audience. I think we should try to spell correctly, and use correct grammar, for all audiences.

I put in the same effort, and hence make the same mistakes, for all audiences.

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."
Albert Einstein
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[jmw]

How curious.
Linguists will tell us that in our spoken language we all of us adopt different styles depending on our audience.
These range from formal to familiar.
No one pretends that in court, the language and manner of deliverey and the various respects shown by lawyers to the judge etc are the same manner they would use in everyday speech.
It is the same with all of us whether we are concious of it or not. Most often it relates to our relative status.
Different forms of written communication do reflect similar style changes and attantion to detail.
In this forum spelling and grammar inconsistencies are less likely to be commented on than in the language forum.

The reactions here though still seem to suggest that all written reports for internal conmsumption, for peer to peer review and for subordinate to superior as well as publications for public review all must have the same attention to detail and, presumably, style.
There also seems to be an asusmption that all mistakes are detectable by the author or are deliberately not corrected when detected.

I wonder how many who advocate absolutism without recomending a standard or a metric are as meticulaous in their spoken word?




JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[davidbeach]

I think that there is a distinction between spoken and written usage. In spoken usage, you know your audience, they're in the room with you or on the other end of the phone line. In written usage, you may have an intended audience, but there is no way to know if that is the only audience, or to limit the dissemination of the work to that audience. Therefore, it seems reasonable that written communications should have a higher standard of care than spoken. It is also possible with written communications to proof read your work before sending it, in spoken communications you can only correct your self after the fact.

 

[IRstuff]

Style can and should be different. Writing for an audience of 6 yr olds is not the same as writing for your peers. But, that doesn't and shouldn't mean that either audience should be cheated out of your attention to the details.

TTFN

 

[Ashereng]

IRstuff,

That is the sentiment I am trying to convey (albeit, I conveyed mine less eloquently). Give you a star.

"Do not worry about your problems with mathematics, I assure you mine are far greater."
Albert Einstein
Have you read FAQ731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[stanier]

What I believe to be worse is the 'management speak' that we are bombarded with by MBAs in today's reports. Countless reports that waffle on about nothing much,using longer words as they go. The multisyllable words are often misapplied anyhow.

Give me a few punctuation mistakes and misspelled words but in a clear and succinct manner anyday. Although , of course, one should try and fix the obvious mistakes.

Better the words be wrong than a calculation from which conclusions are drawn.

Geoffrey D Stone FIMechE C.Eng;FIEust CP Eng

http://www.waterhammer.bigblog.com.au