New Leadership at HomeAway

HomeAway, a property rental site similar to Airbnb, has announced a new CEO. A message from the co-founder and chairman, Brian Sharples, explained the change:

Hello Owners and Property Managers.

I wanted to reach out to you directly to let you know about some big news for both HomeAway and me personally. After 12 years at the helm at HomeAway, I have made the very difficult decision to step down as CEO and have chosen John Kim, our current Chief E-Commerce Officer, to lead the company as President. We will gradually move through this transition and I will remain on board as Chairman until mid-January to advise John and the leadership team for the remainder of the year.

While it's never easy to hand over the reins of something you built, I believe now is the right time to empower the next generation of leadership to take HomeAway to new heights. John is already an incredible driving force for the growth of our company. I'm very comforted in knowing we have someone of his caliber with rich experience in product development and innovation to lead our mission and strategy.

As the vacation market grows, so does the expectation of customers to have a superior online experience. John's proven ability to transform web and mobile sites will help HomeAway build the right customer experience to attract even more travelers to your properties. John looks forward to sharing his vision with you and will be hosting a Q&A session on October 19th at 10:00am CT. Please click here to sign up. You may also submit questions in advance for John to address during this webcast.

I want to thank you for trusting HomeAway with your business and for the feedback and support you have provided me personally over the last several years. You have helped us break ground in this industry, and as a frequent HomeAway traveler, I look forward to seeing many of you at your amazing properties in the coming years!

Best regards and heartfelt appreciations,
Brian Sharples
Co-Founder and Chairman of HomeAway, Inc.

Sharples emphasizes Kim's technology experience and sells the decision to property owners as helping to provide "the right customer experience to attract even more travelers to your properties."

An article in the Austin Business Journal describes HomeAway as a successful business in Austin, TX, founded in 2005 and sold to Expedia last year. In a statement, President and CEO of Expedia Dara Khosrowshahi said that Sharples "leaves behind an incredible foundation and legacy that we plan to build on as part of the Expedia Inc. family." Today, the company has 1,540 employees and lists homes for rent in more than 190 countries.

Discussion Starters:

• Assess Sharples' message. Who is the audience, and what are his objectives? How well does he achieve the objectives?
• The message seems to leave out some information. What is Sharples not saying, and why isn't he clearer?

Marriott + Starwood: Completion Announcement to Staff

The deal is finally done: Marriott and Starwood are one company. Starwood associates received this message from Marriott Communications under the subject line, "A Historic Moment: Marriott + Starwood Merger Complete." The message continues, highlighting the combined company's impressive portfolio of brands and properties. Associates are also invited to find out more on a "new integration site" called "The Platform."

The message comes almost a year after the acquisition was announced and confirms the largest hotel company in the world, with 5,809 properties and more than 1.1 million rooms. Executive Chairman Bill Marriott expressed his enthusiasm for the deal, focusing on people and culture:

"We hope to continue the trend of promoting, developing and working with people. We have the strongest culture, I think, of any lodging company, and of most companies in America. And we'll continue to promote and really strengthen that culture."

Starwood will cease to exist. The HOT symbol will be removed from the New York Stock Exchange.

Discussion Starters:

• In the message, identify all types of sentences: simple, complex, and compound. How varied are the sentences? 
• How would you characterize the tone of the message? Do you find it appropriate for the primary audience (Starwood employees?)

More Recalls at Blue Bell

Just when we thought the trouble had passed for Blue Bell Creamery, the company is recalling Cookie Dough ice cream because of Listeria concerns. Last year, Blue Bell recalled several products, which resulted in staff layoffs, a difficult situation for a family-owned company with loyal employees.

This time, the company is clearly blaming external supplier Aspen Hills. The latter company's recall announcement tops Blue Bell's webpage. Then, Blue Bell's press release is titled to deflect responsibility:

"BLUE BELL ICE CREAM RECALLS SELECT PRODUCTS CONTAINING CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH PIECES PURCHASED FROM OUTSIDE SUPPLIER ASPEN HILLS DUE TO POSSIBLE HEALTH RISK"

Blue Bell uses a similar strategy on its Facebook page, pointing to Aspen Hills as the cause of the problem. To downplay the issue, the company starts the announcement with "Out of an abundance of caution," further putting the bad news in context. 

Discussion Starters:

• Who are the audiences for Blue Bell's announcement? Identify primary and secondary audiences and analyze each.
• How well is Blue Bell announcing the bad news? Consider principles from Chapter 8, Bad-News Messages.
• Analyze word choices in all Blue Bell communications. Which are the most powerful? Which could be improved?

Offensive 9/11 Mattress Company Ad

What were they thinking? Miracle Mattress in San Antonio, TX, produced a commercial advertising twin mattress prices for 9/11. At the end of the ad, two employees fall into "towers" of mattresses, and the lead actor says, "We'll never forget."

Understandably, people were outraged. This reminds me of the golf club that used a similar promotion in 2013. Also, this year, Coca-Cola took down a display of soda cartons at a Florida Walmart.

The company owner posted an apology and announced the store's closing on Facebook. He said elsewhere that he was unaware of the ad created by his employees.

Discussion Starters:

• How are these promotions different from, for example, Memorial Day sales?
• Assess the owner's apology. What principles of persuasion does he use? What recommendations do you have for improving the message?
• In this post, the owner didn't mention that he was unaware of the ad, as he did in other sources. What's your view of this choice?

Wells Fargo Reaches Settlement Agreement

Wells Fargo is taking action after the discovery that bank employees opened millions of fake checking and credit card accounts. Employees opened accounts in unsuspecting customers' names so they could earn credit for the sale. The bank benefited from fees people paid on accounts they never used.

In addition to paying a $100 million settlement fee to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the bank has fired 5,300 employees over the past few years.

The company issued two major communications related to the situation: 

• A press release
• An email to employees

In addition, Jim Cramer interviewed CEO John Stumpf on Mad Money:

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• Compare the two Wells Fargo statements. How well does the company tailor these messages to primary and secondary audiences?
• How can customers miss paying fees? What is their responsibility, and what is the company's? Consider visual displays of bank statements in your response.
• How well does Stumpf respond to Jim Cramer's questions? Which are his strongest and weakest arguments?

British Airways Apologizes for Delays

Computer issues plagued Delta recently, and now British Airways is feeling the pain. Tens of thousands of customers have been delayed while checking in, dropping off luggage, and waiting to take off. Frequent fliers may remember similar delays in July, when the airline was upgrading its check-in system. This time, an IT issue shut down some systems, causing staff to hand write boarding passes.

The airline apologized for the delays, admitting that processes have been "taking longer than usual": "We are sorry for the delay to their journeys." Although passengers were actively complaining on Twitter, the company had little to say online. The Twitter page has only one reference to the delays-after the issues were resolved.

But some customers did receive a letter, posted in an NBC article.

 

Discussion Starters:

• Assess the letter to customers. What principles of letter writing and bad-news messages does the airline follow in this communication? What would improve the letter?
• What word choices and other aspects of the letter tell you it's British? Why did the airline chose this method of communication?
• What else, if anything, should the airline have communicated on social media?

More Jargon to Banish

Once a year or so, I write about business clichés and jargon. This infographic, generated by GoToMeeting is a good summary of perhaps the worst examples heard in companies recently.

Here are some of my favorites (to avoid, that is):

• Content is king (Who's the queen?)
• Game change, par for the course, and other sports references I don't understand
• With all due respect, which usually indicates no respect at all
• Do more with less, a.k.a. work harder for less pay
• Open the kimono, which has both sexual and racial overtones.

Image source.

Discussion Starters:

• What's the value of business jargon? It's not all bad.
• Compare these 50 to those in Chapter 5 of the textbook. Which are most and least familiar to you?
• Do you find any of the terms offensive?

Trump Vs. Morning Joe

Now, Donald Trump is feuding with the hosts of MSNBC's Morning Joe, Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough. Earlier this month, Scarborough wrote a scathing piece in The Washington Post, "The GOP Must Dump Trump." He ended by encouraging Republicans to withdraw their support and find a new candidate:

"A bloody line has been crossed that cannot be ignored. At long last, Donald Trump has left the Republican Party few options but to act decisively and get this political train wreck off the tracks before something terrible happens."

Escalation of the debate has continued, as Brzezinski said he sounded as if "he's had a lot to drink" during a campaign rally speech in Fredericksburg, VA.

Trump did not enjoy that comment and struck back with a series of tweets matched by Scarborough, who shot back, "Neurotic and not very bright? Look in the mirror."

  The tweets came a few hours after Trump's campaign manager said he doesn't insult people. This is from Huffington Post:

"I don't like when people hurl personal insults," Kellyanne Conway told ABC News' "This Week." "That will never be my style, I'm a mother of four small children, it would be a terrible example for me to feel otherwise ... [Trump] doesn't hurl personal insults."

And yet Conway told Fox Business, "He has a right to defend himself."

Discussion Starters:

• When you watch the clip from Morning Joe, what do you notice about Brzezinski's delivery of the comment? How do others on the show react? Do you think she may regret her comment?
• How should Trump have reacted? And how should Scarborough have responded? As always, all players in the situation had several choices throughout these exchanges.

Time's Layoff Jargon

I'd like to see a layoff announcement without "realignment," "leverage," and "content creation." Time Inc. couldn't manage it in the recent statement about laying off about 110 of its 7,200-person team: 

"Over the last couple of weeks, we have been realigning our organizational structure to better leverage our content creation, sales and marketing and brand development operations. Our primary objective has been to better position ourselves to operate with greater agility and optimize the growth areas of our operation. As a result, there will be some job eliminations. That is always painful but an unfortunate reality in today's business climate."

According to AdAge, employees aren't surprised, based on recent memos announcing new management and a new editorial structure. CEO Joe Ripp also admitted, "We're always looking at costs."

Part of the restructuring includes new ad teams for technology and telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, and automotive.

Image source. 

Discussion Starters: 

• What's the harm in using jargon in a layoff announcement? What are some alternatives?
• Time representatives won't say when the layoffs will take place. How does this strategy affect employees? What are the factors involved in the timing decision?

Sample HR Posting

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has published a draft notice to help employees to understand their rights. Employers that offer wellness programs are expected to communicate a new law that requires them to collect certain information about employees; however, they must still comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. 

The notice is long and, in my opinion, confusing. The EEOC could use principles of business communication, such as including "you" to make it more readable and conversational. Also, this is an opportunity for employers to promote their wellness programs, and this notice does little. Although it says the program is voluntary, it doesn't include how employees will benefit. Yes, the focus is on the information collection, but most employees will care more about the program itself. 

The EEOC includes an FAQ for employers that explains how the notice could be distributed.

Image source. 

Discussion Starters: 

• What business writing principles are used in the notice? What other principles would improve the message? 
• Would another format work better for the notice? How about an FAQ for employees? What are the advantages and downsides of this type of message? 

Bad Advice from Grammarly

After clicking "Skip Video" about a dozen times on YouTube, I finally watched the Grammarly ad and tried the product. In a 15-page document, the tool identified nine "critical issues," only two of which were errors, and I would hardly call them "critical": a missing serial comma (from a CNN quote) and an unnecessarily hyphenated word.

The other seven were not mistakes; if I make the recommended corrections, I will have far more grammatical problems than when I started.

The original document is a case study, "SeaWorld Responds to the Movie Blackfish."

Here are the items marked as errors:

My Original Version	Grammarly's Correction	My Comment
SeaWorld, a theme-park operator	Possibly confused word. Did you mean theme park?	No, I meant to hyphenate the compound adjective.
several other groups cancelled performances	Cancelled is British spelling.	Technically correct, but either spelling is acceptable in the United States.
debate over orcas continues	Change to the plural form, continue.	No, continues follows debate, not orcas, which is part of a prepositional phrase.
The November 6, 2013, article	Article usage (The) is incorrect.	No, it's not: "The...article..."
Nowhere does the article mention SeaWorld's response.	Consider replacing the period with a question mark.	No, it's a statement, not a question.
The revenue up-tick may have been	Did you mean uptick?	OK! You got me. Uptick is acceptable without the hyphen.
Dawn Brancheau's family, friends and colleagues	Insert a comma.	This is a quotation from CNN, and yes, I should add the serial comma after friends.
literally millions of safe interactions	Change to million because it's modifying a noun.	No, this is a tweet quotation, and it is correct as is.
Also in February, SeaWorld sponsored ads on Facebook	Add a hyphen: SeaWorld-sponsored ads.	No, sponsor is a verb here, not a noun modified by SeaWorld-sponsored.

In addition to these markings, Grammarly says I have 38 "advanced issues" that I can see if I pay for an upgrade. The upgrade also gives me access to the plagiarism checker, which sounds like a teacher's nightmare: if students change a few words, will they circumvent tools like Turnitin?

Discussion Starters:

• After reading this, would you use or recommend Grammarly? It could be useful for international students, but I worry that it gives bad advice.
• Try the product on one of your own documents. How does it work for you? 

Email Clouds Our Judgement

Hasn't email ruined enough vacations, marriages, and careers? Will it now steal a chance at the presidency? Hillary Clinton's server issue is a symptom of a deeper problem: email causes us to make bad decisions. Several times, she admitted that she wished she had acted differently. We have all made mistakes on email: sent it to the wrong person, replied all, or sent a half-drunk, angry message in the middle of the night.

Millennials take blame for being constantly connected, but the Boomers are just as guilty, and we should know better. We know that email lives forever: on the sender's server, on the receiver's server, in print, posted on social media sites-in countless crevices. And double deleting doesn't save us from legal discovery software.

We assume a level of privacy because email has driven us to communicate quickly, often without any sense at all. We accept privacy policies without reading them, manage 122 emails a day, and "shoot" each other emails. As mobile use increases, email joins IM and texts, for which people expect an immediate response.

Advice and tools abound to reduce email dependence and volume. We should check email less often, use triage tools, and stop sending so damn many of them.

But these behavioral approaches miss the point: we love email. The immediacy and volume feed the micromanager's feelings of disconnection and lack of trust, making us dependent on email to function. We risk reputational and relational damage to maintain our addiction.

Clinton has experienced on a large scale what we have all come to realize about email: it owns us, and we are to blame.

Everyone needs a private cave like Fitzgerald Grant's on Scandal, and perhaps Clinton will get one. In the meantime, let's remember that no email message-nor any written communication that travels via the web or satellite-is truly private.

Image source.  

Geek Squad's Confusing Email

Geek Squad's email, with the subject line, "IMPORTANT NOTICE: We've updated our Privacy Policy," is a confusing mess. After reading the email, I have no idea what the changes are and why they're important to me. 

The main points of the email seem to be that the website is going to be combined with Best Buy's, and Geek Squad customers will now follow Best Buy's privacy policy. As usual, the email focuses on what's important to the company instead of what's important to customers. 

The tone is "excited" with references to simpler, streamlined, easier experiences for customers, but it's not clear what those are-or how they're different from Geek Squad's current process.

Of course, we're referred to Best Buy's privacy policy, also a fun read. At least the top part of the page summarizes the most important information, and the full legal policy is below, with this note: 

We want you to read the whole policy. This highlights section provides a summary of Best Buy's privacy practices, and is not the whole policy. The highlights and full privacy policy apply to Best Buy retail stores, our Web site at www.bestbuy.com, our mobile app, and other locations where we may collect personal information.

The company should probably update this blurb to include Geek Squad.

Discussion Starters: 

• What do customers most need to know? 
• How could Geek Squad have approach this differently?

Personality and Grammar

A PLOS One study tells us that people who are less agreeable, according to a Big Five Personality assessment, judge paragraphs with typos and grammatical errors more harshly. Researchers at The University of Michigan asked 80 participants to take the personality test and then respond to a paragraph that had two typos and two grammatical errors. 

According to the authors,

"Summarizing the results, three out of the Big Five personality traits interacted with only one type of error, either grammos (agreeability) or typos (openness, conscientiousness). One trait (extraversion) interacted with both types of errors, and one trait (neuroticism) interacted with neither. This pattern is consistent with our speculation that typos and grammos carry different evaluative weight and potentially different social meanings." 

The results aren't as interesting to me as how the study is getting spun. The article is appropriately titled: "If You're House Is Still Available, Send Me an Email: Personality Influences Reactions to Written Errors in Email Messages." However, a Mashable article reads, "People obsessed with grammar aren't as nice as everybody else, study suggests." 

This seems to be a bold conclusion: is identifying four mistakes in a short paragraph considered an obsession? In answering the questions about the writer, shown here, I'm not sure how the respondents could be called obsessive. 

Discussion Starters: 

• Do I sound defensive? I am, but do I have a point? 
• Do the study results surprise you? Read more detail about the influence of the five personality types in the PLOS One article. 

Students Remember More with Handwritten Notes

A Wall Street Journal report discusses several studies that encourage handwritten instead of typed notes. In one study, students watched a PowerPoint presentation and took notes one of the two ways. After the lecture, students who had taken notes on their laptop had done slightly better in "recalling facts"; however, longer term, after the opportunity to review their notes, students who had handwritten their notes performed better. This group's notes were longer and included images, which could have contributed to their more robust responses. According to one researcher, the hand writers have an advantage to "grasp ideas" and "hold onto new concepts."

The actual writing process doesn't seem to be at play; instead, it's about the "focused attention that handwriting requires." Also, handwriting is slower, which makes the note-taking process more intentional.

Other research supports laptop bans in classrooms. One study found that "students with open laptops remembered less lecture content than those with closed laptops." Several faculty have made the decision for this reason and because of other distractions. An assistant professor at Columbia University cited more reasons in a Washington Post op-ed about his decision to ban laptops:

• Since most students can type very quickly, laptops encourage them to copy down nearly everything said in the classroom. But when students stare at the screen of their laptops, something is lost. The students shift from being intellectuals, listening to one another, to being customer-service representatives, taking down orders. Class is supposed to be a conversation, not an exercise in dictation. 
• Clay Shirky, a professor at New York Univeristy, recently asked his students to stop using laptops in class. Another recent study convinced him to do so. The title: "Laptop multitasking hinders classroom learning for both users and nearby peers." A research team in Canada found that laptops in the classroom distracted not only the students who used them, but also students who sat nearby. Meaning, not only do the laptop-using students end up staring at Facebook, but the students behind them do, as well.
  

Discussion Starters:

• How do you prefer to take notes? Does this research influence your process?
• What about this research rings true for you, and what aspects do you question?

GS and Barclays Emails to Staff

A Goldman Sachs partner wrote an email to junior staff that was intended to be motivational. BusinessInsider writes, "every young person on Wall Street should read it.

Presumably, the impetus was a lot of unhappy people because of the market conditions and several recent employee departures. The email includes big pictures and few words. This is the first screen of it, and here's the rest. 

According to BusinessInsider, "We're told that the associates love it and they're passing it around internally." 

When Googling to find the email, I came across this Barclays email to interns from last summer. I'm not sure how I missed it, but it's an incredible example of Wall Street culture and communication.

The Washington Post published the email, calling it "the latest cringeworthy Wall Street memo to interns." It included "Ten Commandments" for new interns, such as bringing a spare tie for associates, wearing a bow tie, being the last one to leave at night "no matter what," and bringing a pillow to work for sleeping under the desk. The second commandment sounded overriding: "Remember: this is a summer internship for a full-time offer. It won't be easy. If you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen."

The Post received this response from Barclays management: 

"This email communication was in no way authorized by Barclays. Barclays is fully committed to creating an environment where both our bankers and our business can thrive. We have implemented policies and training guidelines to enable employees to gain valuable experience while at the same time maintaining a healthy work-life balance."

Discussion Starters: 

• Do you agree with BusinessInsider's assessment of the GS email? Why or why not? 
• What's your view of the large pictures? Do these help or detract from the written message? 
• How do you find the Barclays' "Ten Commandments" email? Does it match with your experience as an intern? 
• Discuss what may have happened internally at Barclays after The Washington Post published the email. Should intern managers have leeway in what they communicate to interns, or should their communication be held more tightly? 

The Perfect Email Is 50 - 125 Words

The email productivity company Boomerang researched which emails are most likely to get quick responses, and the winners are between 50 and 125 words. According to the study, "a 25-word email works about as well as a 2000-word one, with only a 44% chance of getting a response."

By analyzing more than 5.3 million messages, Boomerang identified other features of successful emails. The company does acknowledge that these guidelines may not be best in every situation. Of course, your audience and the context always trump averages, but when in doubt...

• Write at a third-grade reading level. Use simple words and short sentences. 
• Use a tone that's slightly negative or positive, rather than neutral. 
• Use 3- or 4-word subject lines.
• Include 1-to-3 questions for a 50% higher response rate.
• Send your email early in the morning or during lunch. 

The company experimented with interesting versions of emails for dating and criticism. See whether you can guess which were most successful. 

Boomerang can be useful in managing messages. You can schedule when emails go out and receive reminders from the software.  

Discussion Starters: 

• How does this research match your own experience? Does anything surprise you? 
• How would emails to your manager, for example, differ from these guidelines? 

Uber Pays $28M and Adjusts Safety Language

Uber has settled two lawsuits claiming the company misled consumers about safety. Charging a $2.30 fee, Uber promised to do background checks of its drivers, but the company failed to do the type of fingerprinting required for taxi drivers.

As part of the settlement, Uber will change some language in its promotions: the "Safe Ride Fee" will now be called a "Booking Fee."

In a statement, Uber reinforces its rationale for assuring passengers of safety but admits, "no means of transportation can ever be 100 percent safe. Accidents and incidents do happen." 

Discussion Starters:

• How, if at all, will the language change and financial settlement affect passengers? 
• How well does Uber explain the settlement? Of course, the company tries to spin the news positively. Does it succeed? 

University President: "Drown the Bunnies"

In yet another case of an email plaguing a leader, Simon Newman, president of Mount St. Mary's U. of Maryland, says his words were taken out of context. The president announced an objective to retain freshmen: "My short-term goal is to have 20-25 people leave by the 25th. This one thing will boost our retention 4-5%. A larger committee or group needs to work on the details, but I think you get the objective."

Although this sounds harsh, an assistant professor of history recalled a conversation with Newman saying something worse: "This is hard for you because you think of the students as cuddly bunnies, but you can't. You just have to drown the bunnies … put a Glock to their heads."

On the face of it, we can understand Newman's intent: to improve the university's 75% retention rate and reduce the current loss of 70 students after their first semester at school. Newman wants to catch students who will likely fail as early as possible-perhaps in time to get a tuition refund: "It's moral to at least have the conversation and say, You know, you can get all of your money back if this isn't the place for you. I'd rather you be happy." The university also has programs in place to check up on students who, for example, miss classes, and try to support them. Longer term, the university is trying to get out of debt and wants to increase its admission standards. 

Despite the controversy, in a letter, the university's board of trustees supports the president and condemns faculty and alumni working against him. The board also passed "a unanimous resolution of full confidence."

Discussion Starters:

• One issue is how the student paper, The Mountain Echo, handled the story. Read more about this in The Chronicle article and discuss your perspective.
• Assess the board of trustees' letter. How well does it support the president and put the issue to rest?

"Reply All" Trouble

We can take a lesson from Time Inc.: check before hitting "Reply All." At the largest magazine publishing company in the United States, an employee asked a benefits question that went to thousands of employees. A photo editor inquired about the heath savings plan: 

The funny thing is, after reading more, we learn that this is an IT issue, which sent a response email back to the listserv (the entire company). Maybe some of the criticism was unfair. Still, we should check to see where our email goes before sending it. A listserv in the "To" line could be dangerous.. 

Of course, Time employees made the situation far worse by replying back to everyone with snarky comments: 

This brings us to the second lesson: if you get an email like this by mistake, just delete it. 

Discussion Starters: 

• Have you experienced something similar at work or school? How did you or the company handle the situation? 
• What other advice would you offer people before they "hit send"?