Trying Technology Moments

I’m often asked to talk about the mistakes companies make when it comes to their technology.  Rarely, however, am I asked to comment on the most frequent technology mistakes people make at home, at work or in the office.  We operate at the speed of life, in 140-character soundbites and everyone needs things done smarter, faster and better.  With all that pressure on us, no wonder we screw up.  Here are the five most common transgressions people make while using technology.  Fear not, if you have committed one or more of these sins, you’re not alone.  The key is how quickly you recover from them. Here’s how.  

Sending the wrong e-mail or document  - There are varying levels of this mistake ranging from a simple “oops…please disregard” to a full on “Yikes – how am I going to get out of this mistake?”  One of our clients was soliciting bids from a specialty products vendor – the kind that prints mugs, pens and other items for marketing and tradeshows.  She felt his price was too high and asked if it was the best he could do.  The next message she received was an exchange between him and a colleague talking about how difficult she was and gloating over how much profit they were going to make off of her order.  When called on it, he backpedaled and said that it was for a different client, but alas…he lost her business.  

What should I do?  An apology goes a long way and in my client’s case, had she gotten one and he lowered his price, he may have still had her business.  Let the recipient know they received an e-mail from you unintentionally and ask that they please destroy it immediately – especially if it contains confidential or proprietary information.  E-mail often tries to help us out by populating the “To” field with your contact list.  Take your time and be sure before you hit “Send” there are no accidental recipients attached to your e-mail. 

Hitting “Reply All” button when you intended to send to a single recipient – Have you ever heard the term “Don’t put anything in writing you wouldn’t want on the front page of a newspaper?”  Although the term may be dated now that social media reigns supreme, I tell people to save any such comments for a one-on-one conversation.  It’s too easy to quickly send a snarky reply to your friend Bob only to discover there were 25 other recipients on the e-mail chain who might not share your enthusiasm. 

What should I do?  If your comment was inflammatory and may have hurt someone’s feelings, it is important to make a personal appearance at his/her desk and ask for forgiveness.  Identify that you are aware that your actions were inappropriate and that you are truly sorry.  Even if the person forgives you, your boss may not so be prepared for the consequences.

Questionable pictures posted on Instagram, Facebook or other social site – Perhaps you had one too many at the company picnic and fell asleep under a tree hugging a teddy bear or a friend snapped an unflattering fashion “don’t” photo you wouldn’t want circulated and suddenly it appears on a social site. 

What should I do?  Ask the person who posted it to remove the offending photo from their site.  If the photo is on Facebook there are settings you can establish to be sure that you approve all tagged photos prior to anyone publishing them.  You can also delete the photo from your page which takes care of part of the problem, but unless it is removed by the user it still lurks in cyberspace.  Remember, people look you up online through various channels and you wouldn’t want to give anyone reason to make assumptions based on a photo that don’t reflect who you are. 

Relying on Autocorrecting Text – If you have an iPhone, iPad or iTouch you may have already experienced the autocorrect phenomenon.  When your texts are automatically corrected, most become highly inappropriate and embarrass both the sender and recipient. 

What should I do? 

Although we’ve become extremely fast at texting others, be sure your missives are properly checked before hitting the send key.  Otherwise, laugh at yourself while apologizing and move on.

Etiquette on the Phone and in your Car - You see a car swerving in and out of lanes on the highway and upon closer examination you discover the person is texting or dialing the phone.  Worse, there’s someone in the car with them – maybe a client, friend or even a child.  We all think “that’s horrible” until we realize, in fact, we’ve done it ourselves.

What should I do? 

Buy yourself a headset if you must talk on the phone or use a hands-free device to enable you to keep both hands on the wheel.    Some of my friends keep their phones turned off and in the backseat while driving so they can’t get to their phone or be distracted by the beeps and pings of incoming messages.

Technology has made our lives easier, helps us race through our lives even faster, and on a grand scale, has done more to help humanity than harm it.  They key, however, is to never take it for granted, and know its limitations – and your own.  So, take a deep breath, consider your communication, who it’s going to, and why – and be sure you want it out in the universe indefinitely.  When you do screw up, acknowledge the mistake, take your lumps, and put technology aside for a moment.  We’ve come so far, but nothing takes the place of a good, old-fashioned face-to-face apology.

About the Author

Dan Adams, CEO of New England Network Solutions (NENS), is a serial entrepreneur who ran his first retail operation in high school.  He founded NENS in 1993 and over the years, owned and managed several start-up companies. In the last three years, Dan has tripled his company's revenue and is passionate about sharing his success strategies with fellow entrepreneurs. For more information, visit www.nens.com