Trouble in Paradise
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Work related, WWTIPD
The dept. manager for one of our customers is a guy who I have to deal with a couple of times a month via email, and have met once in person. Somehow he cannot seem to connect the fact that the person he met by the name Jacki Lastname in the office, a female, is the same person who emails him with the name Jacki Lastname in the signature line. Every single time he contacts me it's addressed to "Jack". The first few times I thought maybe it was a typo and figured eventually he'd read my signature, but no, it continues. I don't know if he's a lazy typer or truly thinks I'm a man. How do I politely tell him my name isn't effing Jack? It is no more rude for me to correct him than he is by calling me the wrong name repeatedly, right?
Re: Work related, WWTIPD
~Benjamin Franklin
DS dx with celiac disease 5/28/10
He's a pleasant guy, but extremely overworked and stressed right now with a computer system transition his company is going through. I've thought of bringing it up jokingly or lightheartedly. I think he may be so busy right now that he can't be bothered to read both syllables of my name.
Since everything we communicate about is information that needs to be added to or removed from a file, he needs it in writing and prefers email, so I haven't needed to call him to reinforce that I'm female. I could do that at some point though.
I don't want to come across as a b!tch by just replying to his latest email with "it's Jacki, actually" but it's getting irritating!
For work, solely through email. We've met and talked for 10 minutes or so on his office visit this year, but he may not remember meeting me.
It's not rude. He's calling you by the wrong name. Sure, he's probably going to be embarassed when you point it out, but he'll get over it.
Just say something like, "It's not a big deal, but I just wanted to point out that my name is Jacki, not Jack. I don't want you to call looking for 'Jack' one day and get told that no one by that name works here!"
At every job I've had for the first week or so people think my name is either Megan or Melissa (it's Michelle) so I've had to do something like this fairly frequently. People get over it with a quick apology.
B- feinicstine - I have a friend Melissa who is called Michelle all the time. To the point where the priest at their wedding (who knew her pretty well!!!) actually said "Michelle" during the vows. She found it amusing and rolled with it.... she is just too used to it.
~Benjamin Franklin
DS dx with celiac disease 5/28/10
I think "it's actually Jacki" or any variation of it sounds petulant...maybe that's just me. I'd make it clear without actually saying it.
The next time you have a question, just call to ask him rather than emailing and then follow up immediately with an email - "thanks for your time on the phone, here's XYZ that you were looking for" to reinforce the fact that you are the person he just spoke to.
Something like the above is ideal. I wouldn't worry too much about offending him, just let him know that your name isn't Jack. I get this a lot too - not being called Jack, but other people call me a lot of other names other than my own and I have to correct them.
You can't know how happy I am to know that this goes both ways... I thought the Melissa's out there were having an easy time of it.
See, this is what I want to avoid. I know it could really easily come across that way. He isn't the first person who's done this but he's the only one who has repeatedly, over the course of months, not taken 5 seconds to read my signature and correct the error! At my next job I'm using my full name.
My name is Melissa and I ALWAYS get called Michelle when someone forgets my name.
Could he be "nicknaming" you? Giving you a nickname for whatever reason?
I think it's fine to correct him but do it in humor, it's not a huge deal after all. And keep in mind that sometimes people get familiar with certain ways of doing things and don't see a problem till it's pointed out to them. And too, I had a hard time noticing the "I" on your name the first time I read it. I'm used to the name being spelled "Jackie" so the "missing" "e" threw me. I wonder if that's not happened to him as well....
Regardless, I doubt it's personal on his part.
This was my first thought. I went to school with a few Jackies and they were all nicknamed "Jack" or "Jacks" for whatever reason.
FWIW, my name is Stacey and I get called Stephanie and Tracy all.the.time. If someone actually uses by correct name, it's spelled wrong.
http://pandce.proboards.com/index.cgi#general
If not for the rampant sexism in my specific field I might think this, but most people in this field are still surprised to find women in the QA dept. This company in particular is a real boy's club.
I think people miss the "i" - but there's not much I can do about that aside from going by my full name. My email signature is bold and larger than the rest of the text per company requirements, which makes the "i" fairly easy to see.
Last week I emailed a rep and later the day, he called me to talk about the questions in the email. I answered the phone "Company name, Jacki speaking" and said he was calling for Jack. I asked if this was Bob Jones and he said yes, calling for Jack. I told him that I was the person who contacted him and my name is Jacki. He started yelling at me that HE WAS CALLING FOR JACK! HE HAS AN EMAIL FROM JACK! PLEASE TRANSFER ME TO HIM!!
I explained that nobody here is named Jack, but I emailed him earlier, my name is Jacki Lastname, and I was asking about Report XYZ. Was that the email he was calling in reference to?
He told me yes, and then that he was "new to email and couldn't read what it said anyway."
Headdesk.
Can you use colors in your email? If so, maybe make your signature bright pink and he will be surprised and look at it more carefully.
If it were me I would ignore it. People misspell my last name all the time, even people I work with closely. I just don't care and it has nothing to do with the job getting done.
But if you don't want to ignore it, I'd probably just send the next email sent to "Jack" signed with your full name, just the one time. If he doesn't retain that, well then he's probably a lost cause anyway.
Now is the perfect time to send Christmas greetings, with a picture.
We appreciate your business! I look forward to working with you in the new year!
Happy Holidays! ~ From Jackie and your friends at Company Name.
I'm Tracy and get Stacey ALL. THE. TIME!!