Supervisor Snacks

  In the Telephone Answering Industry we frequently make quick decisions under pressure.   We’re rushed, there is another call to answer, and then another.   We’re the shift supervisor, questions coming at us from agents, clients and other supervisors AND OUR OWN supervisor.   “How do I do this?”, “What should I say to…”, “Why did this happen?”   How can we NOT make a mistake now and then?   Here is our philosophy, “We are human – we will make mistakes.”  We don’t scream and we don’t threaten     people’s jobs.  A mistake was made.  We try to figure out why so we can keep it from happening again.  If you have even an inkling of what caused it – share it so we can see if we can find a better way to do something.  If it was just “I hit the wrong key” or “I didn’t read the next step correctly” it’s OK.  A mistake was made, you did it, OWN IT, try to learn from it and then MOVE ON. Please don’t be defensiv...

  When DID it become the norm to begin every sentence with, So…?   It seems to go back several years, so it will be a difficult habit to break.   The word so in the previous sentence is correct.   So means, thus in this instance.   Actually, in both verbal and written English, the word so has multiple functions, according to Google, it can act as an adverb, a conjunction, a pronoun, an adjective, or an interjection depending on the context.   But using So to begin a sentence is almost never a proper use of the word. We’ve substituted Ummmm, with So, or Sooo.  And we often employ its use when we have been asked a question.  Clearly, we are using it as a delaying mechanism, to give ourselves time to organize our thoughts about what we are going to say.  It would be better to use a moment of silence than these two little letters.  Silence, at least, will not make a person look unpolished or unprofessional. Beginning a sentence with so i...