My manager keeps adding in spelling mistakes to my work

[Saahof]

Bit of a strange one, more of a wwyd.

Part of my role is to write press releases and newsletters for our client. As I am junior in my role, I have to send these newsletters first to my manager for him to review before he then sends them on to the client.

This manager is pretty new to me and I'm noticing an issue, although its probably quite minor. He'll often add a couple of extra lines to my newsletters but those lines will be riddled with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. He will then send this out to the client. Nobody has complained or pointed out these mistakes yet as far as I know, but it makes me cringe to see it! I'm worried our boss will also think that it was me who has made these mistakes.

How do I go about addressing this problem with my manager without offending him, or at least make it clear to my boss that I'm not responsible for this?

Can you cc in your boss - that way you can show that your text is correct...

I thought about doing that @keitepeheakoe but our industry is very hierarchical. There's an implicit understanding that I'm not to go directly to the boss unless I have a serious issue and that I should always answer to my manager first. It may look passive aggressive if I cc in my boss.

Leave it for now. If your boss does bring it up to you, then you have the perfect opportunity to raise your concerns.

After all, if you've been sending your draft to your manager you have a clear email trail proving it wasn't your mistake and it was your manager adding the incorrect extra lines.

Keep a note of a few of the most obvious examples so you can quickly show your boss what you mean if they do ask.

It’s a tough one, isn’t it. Have you always done the newsletters etc prior to them starting? If so, would it be obvious to others too that the mistakes started when the manager starred? Could you say to the manager, please don’t take this as me being rude, but you’ve got a couple of spelling mistakes in the section you’ve added?

I’d be tempted to say

I spotted a couple of typos in the letter that went out - do you want me to check it again before it goes out next time?

Is nobody proofing his work? It’s good practice to never proof your own. Perhaps you can suggest that.

Could you do the "let me know if they're anything you want to add, I'm happy to add this if you send me a rough outline. Then I can make sure it's all formatted the same, I know youre busy" blah blah

I'd start saving a PDF of the work before you send it to your boss, then save a copy of the bosses sent work too.

At your next 1.2.1 bring up that you have noticed some grammatical errors in the work he is sending on, and ask that he sends his work back to you first just so that you can help him.

Just send a couple back and really nicely say that you’ve noticed some spelling mistakes so can he please send it back for proof reading before sending to the client. I don’t think there’s anything else you can do. Or send it to him in a format that means he has to send it back to you to put on the correct format before sending.

Saying nothing is the worst thing you can do as it will begin to reflect badly on you. You absolutely need to bring this up.

You know what....I'd leave it. Once you've done your bit you're not responsible for someone else's actions. I have similar to this with my boss....totally micromanages everything I do, constantly changing the goalposts, really bad time management etc. It wound me up no end at first but now I just leave her to it and remind myself it's NMP (not my problem). Life's too short to get stressed by other people's actions.

As long as you make sure you keep the sent emails with your version just in case. I had a similar issue with submitting work, things being added and then when they came back highlighted as wrong having to take them out again, it became very teedious. I did end up mentioning it to our boss as honestly it was embarrassing and making me look bad, plus it was extra work for my line manager to be adding stuff. It was agreed that if they wanted anything added in or editing then they would let me know and I would amend it and resubmit, it actually turned out to be much less work!

That he is dyslexic and he's your boss so either ask him.to add his.lines and u will type it up or leave it

I'd agree with @Newgirls - next time you send him a release, put something like

"I've noticed the last few times we've sent out releases there have been a few typos and errors - when you're happy with the final version would you like to send it back to me for a last proof before it goes out?"

bcc your boss.

Can you not lock it so he cant edit?

I agree that referring to typos is much more tactful than talking about spelling or grammar errors. I used to have a manager like this, though as time went on it became more and more difficult to characterise things like "could of" as a typo.

You need to say something to someone, the other option is to ignore it and watch everyone's opinion of your work plummet. That's the worse outcome for yoy.

I'd play it was a PP said and just ask to proof read it finally as you've noticed a few errors in the final text.

Keep an audit trail and examples to hand.

I had this with my boss, I just used to correct it before the text was submitted. I always wondered whether it was intention but I don't think it was. Either way, cover yourself.

Yep, just say you’ve noticed “typos”. That implies it could be a slip of the finger rather than him being bad at spellings. If you think he’s going to take umbrage, say you’ve done similar and it’s so easy to do, etc.

Then offer to go through the final piece to “check neither of us have made typos”.

I agree with asking if there is anything he wants adding before you send him the final copy for review as you've noticed he always adds a bit on.

You could always password protect the document before sending it on as well, which would prevent changes being made and force the manager to send it back to you if anything needs adding or changing - if he says anything about not being able to change it himself, you can just say you've noticed a few typos once the document has been sent out to clients and you want to make sure the company maintains a professional image in this area.

Why don't you email your boss back. A simple 'hi X just thought you'd like to know but I've noticed some typos in your email to the customer.

I know you have said that the company is hierarchical but I do think you need to speak to your boss. Perhaps phrase that you have noticed a small issue and are not sure how best to resolve the matter. But you need to be clear that you are protecting your own high standards of work.

I dont think you should take on, as others have suggested, reviewing and editing, your manager's work. That covers up that he has problems with spelling and grammar. That might not matter so much in an internal email but it should matter with client correspondence.

Turn his spellcheck on?

Suggest that everything has to be checked by somebody else before going out, so the mistakes get picked up - that doesn't single him out, and is normal good practice

bcc'ing a boss is unlikely to do any good.

People don't like being bcc'd for no stated purpose.

If you want boss2 to know there is an issue, you have to say what it is and give an example.

I write lots of bespoke reports for clients in my work, often as part of wider projects with overall project management and quality control carried out by junior staff. More than once I’ve clapped eyes on a later version of my work that has been helpfully ‘quality checked’ by the project team and lots of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors helpfully added in. These people are an extra cost to the project. I’ve seen it happen multiple times in different businesses and given up trying to change it but it makes me a really special kind of angry.