Bad Grammar in Business

Based on three recent experiences I have to wonder if proper spelling and grammar skills are no longer requirements of business conduct. The business world seems to be replete with individuals who were either never taught grammar or spelling or who are just too lazy to read through their work before it’s submitted. I suspect it’s the latter. Last month I received a response to an RFP from a large vendor with a great reputation in the disease management space. Not only were there numerous spelling errors, but one response stopped mid-sentence. A vendor that a co-worker uses for research work often submits reports filled with grammatical errors and contradictions. And take for example my most recent run-in with bad grammar (which prompted this post) – I was attempting to read an article on the Boston Business Journal website. After reading the teaser I came to a notice telling me: “If you're a print subscriber who haven't yet registered...”

I’m not sure which is worse, the fact that individuals have stopped making an effort to write properly or the fact that businesses (notice in my vendor example I used the word uses not used) have come to tolerate the mistakes. Don’t misinterpret this post as my saying that I’m above such mistakes. The point I’m trying to make is everyone should read their work before they submit it. I’m sure if any of the people responsible for the three examples above would have taken the time to proof their work they would have caught every single error. With that said, if you ever notice a grammatical or spelling mistake in any of my posts, please call me on it.