More and more I hear people misunderstanding what someone else has said to them, especially when it came through a memo or email. This can lead to a great deal of turmoil at work and affect morale.

You see, when we are standing in front of a person, we pay more attention to body language and tone then we do to the words they are saying. However, when we are reading a note or short message, especially ones written in a hurry, we tend to misunderstand what the other person was trying to tell us.

I have seen situations where a person really believed the other person was angry or upset with them, only to find out later, they weren't.
This is one reason that I say to people,