Halp! Managing someone terrible at grammar and spelling

This could be in "rants of the day" but I actually would value some GRM feedback. 

I have a work colleague whom I have recently been appointed to "lead". This person has worked in my company 10 years and has role of Senior XYZ. They recently moved from another region to the city/office where I work. Wasn't a choice for me.

We are in the same role but I have a higher "title" so now I'm their "manager". Despite the fact that I am not a manager and have no desire to be one. It is what it is.

I'm basically ridden like a donkey working on multiple projects at once. The role we share requires us to work independently and just get E36 M3 done.

"Our" role involves face time with clients and consultants and contractors and numerous stakeholders (all flavors of professionals) and it requires lots of written reports and constant communication. Since this person's arrival - clients and contractors have persistently questioned the quality of their work- relative to attention and WRITTEN work product because this person writes like a 4th grader. The PM wants this person ejected from a project with an important client.

I have started asking this person to send me a draft of every report so I can review it. It takes nearly as much time to fix as it does to write it myself. Some people want to kick him to the curb but there aren't enough people in my company that are willing to work independently on the back end of projects so I'm reluctant to throw the baby out with the bath water.

When every email and report is littered with misspellings and the verbal communication is barely better - WWGRMD?

(I truly hope I didn't misspell anything, LOL)

This may be a good use case for something like ChatGPT. If he knows his stuff but just can't articulate it, that might help get him there. 

Here's your post after Grammarly:

This could be in "rants of the day," but I value some GRM feedback. 

I have a work colleague whom I have recently been appointed to "lead." This person has worked in my company for 10 years and has the role of Senior XYZ. They recently moved from another region to the city/office where I work. It wasn't a choice for me.

We are in the same role, but I have a higher "title," so now I'm their "manager." Despite the fact that I am not a manager and have no desire to be one, it is what it is.

I'm ridden like a donkey, working on multiple projects simultaneously. Our role requires us to work independently and complete the E36 M3.

"Our" role involves face time with clients, consultants, contractors, and numerous stakeholders (all flavors of professionals), and it requires lots of written reports and constant communication. Since this person's arrival, clients and contractors have persistently questioned the quality of their work- relative to attention and WRITTEN work product because this person writes like a 4th grader. The PM wants this person ejected from a project with an important client.

I have asked this person to send me a draft of every report so I can review them. It takes nearly as much time to fix as it does to write it myself. Some people want to kick him to the curb, but there aren't enough people in my company willing to work independently on the back end of projects, so I'm reluctant to throw the baby out with the bath water.

When every email and report is littered with misspellings and the verbal communication is barely better - WWGRMD?

If you have authority over this person, give them a path to success with a PIP. Insist that they use a tool like Grammarly, which helps anyone no matter how good they are. Give them 30 days to improve their work and review for that period. Be supportive, give advice, try to encourage, and nurture. If they want the job and need the money, they will improve. If they cannot, and it hurts the business, you will get support to replace them. 

If you don't have the authority to do anything, separate your work as much as possible. If the company doesn't care about how this person represents the company, neither should you. Don't allow yourself to get dragged down by this person; keep your work separate and let the customers complain. THAT will force change. 

Motojunky said:

This may be a good use case for something like ChatGPT. If he knows his stuff but just can't articulate it, that might help get him there. 

+ one

I mean...  spellchecker is built into just about every program we interface with.

Fueled by Caffeine said:

Motojunky said:

This may be a good use case for something like ChatGPT. If he knows his stuff but just can't articulate it, that might help get him there. 

+ one

+2.  We have a project manager for whom English is his second language.  He does a quick write-up (say, meeting minutes) in English and has CoPilot rework it to be a good professional communication.  One quick check of the CoPilot output, and he's done much faster and with higher quality output.

pkingham (Forum Supporter) said:

Fueled by Caffeine said:

Motojunky said:

This may be a good use case for something like ChatGPT. If he knows his stuff but just can't articulate it, that might help get him there. 

+ one

+2.  We have a project manager for whom English is his second language.  He does a quick write-up (say, meeting minutes) in English and has CoPilot rework it to be a good professional communication.  One quick check of the CoPilot output, and he's done much faster and with higher quality output.

I know a few people for whom English is the first language who use Copilot/chatGPT for the same thing, just out of efficiency/laziness.    For example, I just asked this of ChatGPT:

Write a professional sounding paragraph around these three points: Utilizing AI assistants to quickly summarize a thought, being grammatically correct, and the height of the Eiffel Tower.

Utilizing AI assistants has become an efficient way to quickly summarize complex thoughts, allowing for more streamlined communication in both professional and academic settings. These tools not only enhance productivity but also help ensure grammatical accuracy, contributing to polished and articulate writing. For example, when researching facts such as the height of the Eiffel Tower—standing at approximately 330 meters (1,083 feet) including its antenna—AI can assist in verifying and clearly presenting such information in a concise and grammatically correct manner.

I also know of a guy who uses ChatGPT for EVERY post on a forum/email chain because he can't help from being offensive to some group.  He's totally one of those genius-level-in-his-field type people that has zero people skills/empathy. 

The thought to introduce this person to AI assistants has very much been on my mind. 

To all of you that have responded above this comment - thank you genuinely. 

I'm more surprised that anyone cares about the omnipresent spelling and grammar errors in business communications these days

But yeah, this guy is living through a boom period of spell-checking and grammar-checking technology, he just needs to use them.

Do be careful about putting him on a "PIP," in most businesses that means "your ass is on the way out the door, but if you pull off something heroic we may be moved to reconsider." That may not be the message you want to send.

In reply to GameboyRMH :

I agree being careful with the PIP.  Most use it so when they fire the guy they can point back and show all the documentation of the failed progress.  

Datsun240ZGuy said:

In reply to GameboyRMH :

I agree being careful with the PIP.  Most use it so when they fire the guy they can point back and show all the documentation of the failed progress.  

I have no idea how a PIP would even be documented. "I just work here". I want to help this person continue their career.. but I also understand it's important for them to make improvements. Ironically, this person reads a LOT of books which makes me wonder how the spelling and grammar can be so poor. But I didn't grow up wearing their shoes so all I can do is speculate. 

GameboyRMH said:

I'm more surprised that anyone cares about the omnipresent spelling and grammar errors in business communications these days

 

A lot of that is from people using voice to text.  I saw a title on a video today where "guessed" was replaced by "guest".....

I'll third Grammarly. 

I use it for work. I use it on here. The free version is decent. 

Sounds like the pro version would be worth the $. 

It does a good job of offering suggestions without being too overbearing. 

Edit to say, it also offers suggestions in a way that he may learn a thing or two if he's willing.

In reply to Toyman! :

I have no experience with it. Does it work within apps (outlook, word, browser) like the built-in spell checkers? Or do you have to copy and paste back and forth?

Edit: I'm heading for the googles but would love GRM user testimony. 

In reply to OHSCrifle :

Is he dyslexic? It would not be too unusual for a technical or math driven person. 

There's no excuse for not spell checking.  
 

As a guy who is on the receiving end of architectural communications, this is totally unacceptable.

Architecture is a communication business. Plans, specs, and scope are ALL forms of communication.  My job in the field is to implement what an architect has designed. The architect's job is to communicate the details of that design to me.  Bad communications about a project are akin to drawing a set of plans with crayons.  Not ok.

I respect your desire to help him out, but he needs to understand that communication is not an unimportant activity with no relevance to his job.  It's is the absolute essence of his entire career.  If he doesn't understand that, he's in the wrong business.

As an owner who sometimes hires architects, I wouldn't pay a firm for services that were communicated poorly  I'd find another architect.  It's too important.

In reply to OHSCrifle :

It is a browser add on. I would assume you can also add it to other software. 90% of what I do is through a browser. 

In reply to SV reX :

You must work with better architects than i do. 

In reply to Toyman! :

I'm not saying plans don't have errors. They basically all do. 
 

But if I send in an RFI and get back something that looks like it was written by a fourth grader, I'm not happy. I don't have time for that crap. 

SV reX said:

In reply to Toyman! :

I'm not saying plans don't have errors. They basically all do. 
 

But if I send in an RFI and get back something that looks like it was written by a fourth grader, I'm not happy. I don't have time for that crap. 

I feel this. After 30+ years (and the last 20 working directly with contractors 99% of my time) I have silly high standards. I'm responsible for my reputation and nothing is more valuable.

When this person transferred and landed in my orbit.. I tried to establish a baseline on them. I found they rely way too much on "somebody else verify" everything. And that's a problem. I want to try to coach them up - but I have too many of projects already.

Dyslexia is certainly a possibility. I'm absolutely going to require the use of some AI tools immediately. 

wvumtnbkr said:

I mean...  spellchecker is built into just about every program we interface with.

And it sucks mightily.

Datsun240ZGuy said:

I agree being careful with the PIP.  Most use it so when they fire the guy they can point back and show all the documentation of the failed progress.  

Agreed, "performance improvement program" is a lie.  They don't really care how someone does on one of those, by the time they come up with it they've already made the decision to fire him and it's just a formality.

I don't have much patience either for poor spelling or grammar, but it seems like this person may well have dyslexia or some other learning disability so I agree you'll have to tread lightly.  I don't suppose you can kick the problem upstairs to corporate or to human resources?

stuart in mn said:

I don't have much patience either for poor spelling or grammar, but it seems like this person may well have dyslexia or some other learning disability so I agree you'll have to tread lightly.  I don't suppose you can kick the problem upstairs to corporate or to human resources?

Yeah, I understand how his problem is now your problem, but trying to solve this yourself may bring some possible repercussions back on you.