Like most other MCTs, I do a lot of research. I read a lot of blogs from other trainers and generally have a positive experience. I do want to remind everyone that we can respectfully disagree with each other in a professional manner. I’ve read some downright nasty comments to some people’s posts. Written communication is very difficult to interpret. When we communicate we have the ability to use inflection in our voices to convey a message. We can also use body language to convey that message and to see if it was received as intended. In written communications, we have neither immediate feedback nor any way of determining if the message that we sent was received as intended.
Here is a quick exercise that I use while teaching leadership to our Naval personnel. On a piece of paper, write down all the ways that people communicate with each other while standing face-to-face. After you have completed your list, cross out everything that is not valid when you communicate via e-mail. You will see what you have to work with is very small.
In short, if we want to disagree with someone, first finish reading the post. Often, I read comments that sound like they were formed in the first 3 sentences of a two paragraph post. Then, disagree in a respective fashion if you still feel the need to.
As for the authors (I’m guilty on this one), be careful in your choice of words. Authors need to select words that will properly convey their meaning. Often I've had my posts or comments that I've made taken completely out of context because I did not take the time to choose the correct words.
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