Saw my mother the other day. She asked if I got my cousin's email. Cousin got a job (finally!) and emailed everybody about it.
I check email frequently, but I didn't get the email.
I had a theory. Checked an account I don't use anymore. Sure enough.
I'd only been telling her for two years to update her address book.
The email was four days old and was followed up with a personal one to me. She had a proposal. Give her a call.
"?"
Do you see what's missing?
I mean, the mail's four days old already, thanks to it going to a moribund address. Now she has a thought and wants me to call her.
"??"
Exactly. Why not just put whatever she has to say in the flippin' email?
I wrote back, said change my address, congrats on the job. That was all. But.
I fear no lessons were learned here.
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6 comments:
Hmm. We all have different ideas of what's the RIGHT way to do things, don't we? If I want you to know mine I have to tell you what they are.
But sometimes it's too much. In my job we're on the road a lot, our teams dispersed. We have work phones. I carry mine all the time and that's what I expect to use. But one team member wants to be called on her personal phone, another sometimes on one and sometimes on another, and a third wants messages left on the office phone. Stupid: who can remember all those preferences and why SHOULD we? Were I the manager I'd go all Nazi and demand everyone keep work phones operational during work hours.
Hmm II. Perhaps her proposal requires explanation and background and she didn't have time to write it up. Is getting in touch with you by phone a tag game? Maybe she knows you'd be more likely to reach her than her you? Maybe she's just ditzy and no amount of wishing on your part will ever change that? Which, yeah, that's definitely annoying.
Too many variables over which to speculate. I have a friend who does exactly the same thing. Writes me an email to say call me. I hate calling. I'd drive the 40 min. to her house to talk in person rather than call. Why can't she just type it up? Because she verbalizes better than she writes. To write it all requires more effort. She's a phone person. She prefers talking to you and hearing your voice. She does try to call me, which I infinitely prefer because I don't have a problem talking on the phone, it's that initial push to call someone else that I don't like, but she always seems to call at the wrong times. When I'm in class. When I'm in the middle of something and can't talk. C'est la vie. I will, after all, be giving her a call this morning.
I sometimes forget there are people for whom going through the back and forth of making a real-time voice connection and then processing spoken words and producing spoken words of their own is actually easier than just typing it out. That's weird, to me; but I'm a guy for whom the ability to speak sometimes seems to disappear altogether. I have gotten a lot better as the competitive nature of employment has stretched me to focus on being more present from moment to moment; but I still find a lot of my work doesn't make sense to do except by email, while some of my peers prefer to waste their time walking over to talk.
I recognize I'm viewing it all from my perspective only.
Anyway, being old like me I think she was just intuiting a chat was more natural if she was going to suggest I join her and my mother for dinner on Easter. I think I will: She also wants help cleaning out her garage. The new job is in Japan, a country with which she has many loving connections. We're all very happy this opportunity has arisen for her.
Chris.tine brings up an excellent point wrt work place communications (different from family comm) and expectations. It should not be incumbent on each person to memorize the communication preferences of each individual. The company should set a clear policy and everyone abide by that, or expect the breakdowns in getting information in a timely fashion.
That said, my company has policies that conflict, and that hamper effective use of communication tools. It coddles the Luddites and marginalizes those who recognize the usefulness of modern day tools. It would require some small education efforts to do what the company claims it wishes for us to do.
I, too, prefer ppl use my personal cell for all important company voice or sms communications. I put this number into the directory, and my email sig lists it along with my preference. I do not have a company cell. I do have a desk phone. I am rarely at my desk, and the company will not let me forward calls to my cell. Of. Course ppl call my desk and leave detailed voice messages. Not email. Not I'M. Not cell msgs.
That means we have inefficient, ineffective communication.
Frustrating. I would gladly remove my desk phone # from the directory if they gave me that option.
Conversely, I offer my cell number as a courtesy in hopes no one will use it, some co-peeps refuse to share theirs with the company, and two I know of have as yet has no cell phone at all.
Email, IM, desk phone, walk to desk, these are all options people use in accordance with their own preferences. Some folks don't always sign in to IM. Some can't be counted on to reply to emails. Some are never at their desks. Some are in other cities.
It's a big dynamic organism, and the method that works is often different the next time. It's a wonder we get anything done at all, much less lead the world or nearly so in so many categories.
Until I went to the dark side, my cell didn't work inside my house and it still is not reliable in some parts of the county. For that (and a lot of other reasons) I often don't even turn it on. That means I also don't give people my cell number.
Still, some people do have it and it would be nice to have those calls forward to my home phone.
*72 brings up "We're sorry. Your call cannot be completed as dialed."
I think they lie. I don't think Verizon is sorry at all.
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