"Dear Ms. Highlight" - how do you deal with errors in e

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Oh dear, how embarrassing.

What am I doing now?

Photo: BONNINSTUDIO / Stocksy United

One click and an email is sent - with a wrong salutation;

to a person for whom it was not intended;

or with an autocorrect that makes everyone else laugh.

Oh dear, how embarrassing, you'd prefer to hide under your desk, especially as a young professional.

Michael Hasenkamp has already advised numerous companies on how to deal with the misfortunes of their employees.

He says: "Mistakes are commonplace, the question is how we deal with them."

We asked young professionals to tell us about mistakes that had happened to them in emails.

Hasenkamp expert suggests which excuse would be appropriate in the cases and how you can distinguish yourself despite a slip.

Case 1: »Auto-correction struck on my boss's name.

So I wrote 'Dear Mrs. High Point' to her. "

Hasenkamp:

For me, this case is in the red, and care must be taken when addressing it.

In his or her position, I would immediately send an e-mail afterwards and express my great dismay - for example like this: »I am extremely sorry.

That shouldn't have happened to me.

I apologize very much. "

Instead, I would not find it appropriate to just send a smiley, according to the motto "wasn't that bad".

The other person may perceive the mistake as more serious than you do. By the way, you should always start from that.

This also means that you apologize in more detail than you might need to.

It's a nice relief when the other person says: "No problem at all, we all laughed a lot about it."

Case 2: "I accidentally wrote to our client with 'Dear Sir or Madam,'"

Hasenkamp:

In contrast to the first case, this involves a third communication partner outside the company.

The employee's mistake could therefore affect the entire company.

That's why there is also a red point from me.

It is easy to see that it is a typo.

And yet the recipient could read "whores".

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Michael Hasenkamp

is a communications trainer and author ("The Art of Making Professional Phone calls", Junfermann Verlag) and advises managers and young executives on the topics of communication, personality, leadership and sales.

It can happen that you don't get rid of such a faux pas so quickly.

My tip: It is a good rhetorical strategy to carry this flag in front of you yourself.

At the next meeting I would also say: "Every time I talk to you, I think of this stupid typo, it is still so uncomfortable for me." Then the topic is usually dealt with faster and the other person doesn't keep coming back to it .

Case 3: »In the email to a customer, I wrote› judenfrei ‹instead of› judenfrei ‹.

Extremely embarrassing. "

Hasenkamp:

In this case, the traffic light has to be given a new color: deep dark red.

A historically extremely stressed area is touched here, which does not allow any errors.

I would immediately write a second email and say: “This is a linguistic mix-up that affects me.

That just can't happen.

There are areas where there is no such thing as wit. ”The apology must be strong and forceful.

Case 4: »During my internship with a member of the European Parliament, I wanted to ask an employee from our district office for information.

I wrote: “Hey Nils, you all right?

Please find out fix XY for me, it would be cool if it were as soon as possible «.

I clicked myself in the recipient column and sent the mail to a Swedish MP whose first name is also Nils.

My mistake was visible on all servers in our parliamentary office at three locations.

Fortunately, the MP replied coolly and wrote me back a dozen and in German. "

Hasenkamp:

I think it's a yellow case.

At least if the person reacts correctly: Despite the friendly and confident response, I advise you to apologize.

Mistakes are not cured by not talking about them.

Rather, it should be seen as an opportunity to make a name for yourself with a friendly response: »I am happy that you reacted so confidently.

But my discomfort that I got it wrong doesn't go away.

I apologize for that. ”Such an answer shows that someone is very reflective of what he is doing and that he is not just hiding.

Case 5: “I spent a long time working on an important presentation that was intended exclusively for our location.

I was supposed to provide new creative input so that we could distinguish ourselves from the other locations.

Unfortunately, in the rush, I chose the wrong mailing list and sent the presentation to the Germany-wide management group.

The progress was gone. "

Hasenkamp:

Here, too, there is another red dot from me.

In our digital world, sending such information requires great care.

A lot of damage can be done with a seemingly insignificant click.

The case is like a doctor removing an appendix;

it shouldn't be two centimeters wrong.

It would be wrong to say, “We all know how quickly this happens.

Sorry. ”It's better to write:“ It doesn't work, I'm horrified that this happened to me. ”I would raise my visor and say that the presentation was not intended for the audience.

Taking full responsibility is always better than hoping the effects won't be so bad.

We keep looking for uncomfortable slip-ups.

Send your examples to

SPIEGEL-Start@spiegel.de

- anonymously

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like.

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