I have always been asked “Why don’t I write an article for one of the professional magazines?” Quite frankly although I am like many other Contracting Professionals with many years of experience, I really have not had anything that I felt I could fill more than a few paragraphs. Additionally, did not feel there was anything that anyone would be interested in reading…….until now.

During a recent Professional Conference that I attended there was a discussion that many Public and Private organizations are not only reaching out for Technical training but also the soft skills such as leadership, risk management etc. Additionally, the new Contracting Workforce and business in general are growing up in a new environment now that the Baby Boomers are retiring every year.

My Military career provided me the best work ethic that I believe works very well in the private sector as well. However, my biggest frustration when I first started my private sector career was not all business professionals communicate effectively and I believe that there should be some basic business ethics…. So from a baby boomer to the remaining baby boomers and the new millenniums here are my top 4 pet peeves about business communications in this new age of social media.

1. Don’t Communicate when you are communicating – Have respect for the person you are talking to. Whether it is over a meal or in casual conversation if you took the time to chat don’t answer your cell phone, text, until your conversation is done. Nothing worse than having a discussion and constantly being interrupted for phone calls and texts.

2. Don’t use Voicemail(VM) if you do not use it..- before VM if you wanted to call someone they either answer the phone or not. If it was important you will call back until you reached your party. Voice mail was a great invention that allows you to leave a message. However, why have VM if you never intend to return a phone call? I have decided if I do not receive a return call after the second VM I will not leave any other messages. So don’t have VM if will not return a call.

3. How Do I reach you? – We have more ways to communicate then ever before yet still can’t reach someone. I left a VM for someone and when I finally reached them they told me, Oh I do not check VM you should text me”….Really? Then refer to number 2 or state on your VM the best method to reach you. email, text, phone etc

4. IF you do not mean it Do not say it. – I suppose I was spoiled serving in the military since I knew that if someone said they were going to do something then 99% of the time it happened. Do not say what you think I want to hear if you have no intention of doing it anyway.

Have any others? Send me an email and will add to the post or add a comment.