When a phone call is better than an email

A colleague in my team returned from maternity leave a few weeks back. She requested permission to do teleworking for some time to allow her to take care of her infant. Fortunately, the office has a policy on teleworking. I was asked if it was fine with me as her direct supervisor. I agreed without any hesitation. When the matter came up for a discussion and I was asked if the work would not suffer in such an arrangement. My answer was short, “even those who sit in the office next to me, communicate more through emails. She will do the same from home.” It was agreed and the arrangement worked perfectly well. We even extended the teleworking arrangement for some more time.

I often wonder if emails should remain the main channel of communication by colleagues working in the same office. I have seen several situations where one email leads to a chain of communication, very often undesirable. Colleagues ask clarifications, write long mails to emphasize upon their point of view or seek clarifications. Some write simply to show that they also exist and work in the same office. It is often totally inefficient and a waste of time for all. It is also not good for inter-personal relationships. In most cases, going across to a colleague to have a face to face talk or a phone call would be more useful. It will take less time and will be much more productive.

One of the basic lessons in communication is to use the right medium for communication. We have just entered into a new year and this is my first post of 2013. It is time to try some new things. You may perhaps call it a new year resolution still, if you like. Talk to your colleague(s) before writing an email or replying to one. Better to go across and see him/her, if possible. It will help. It will enhance efficiency and will also improve relationships at work.

If you had limited time…

If you had limited time to live, what would you spend your life doing? I asked my colleagues recently while conducting a workshop on Attitudes at Work. Colleagues spent a few minutes to think and write what they would like to do. As they shared, we found ‘family’ emerged as the top priority. Things people would like to do for their children, spouse and parents. Then, there were plans like spending time with friends, in prayer, going on a vacation or fulfilling any other childhood dream. An interesting observation came from one colleageue who said, “it is surprising I spend so much time at work but work did not emerge at all in my thinking. All I could think of were things I wanted to do for family”. An important point made here that needs some introspection.

We have responsbility towards work as well as family. We often neglect one over the other. We may be an achiever, a reputed professional but if we are neglecting family then it is not right. Time flies very fast. Our parents and children are not going to stay with us forever. Friends will also move on. So, it is important not to delay execution of our plans for them. Very often, these are small acts like making a phone call to parents, spending time with parents/friends, fulfilling promises made to children etc. Doing them does not take much time and resources. It is better to execute such plans right away. Equally imporant issue is to ponder if family is consuming most of our time and work is neglected. We need to maintain the balance between work and family responsibilities.

 …If you had limited time… was only to trigger thinking. The fact is that we actually have limited time to do things for family, for friends and at our workplace. We need to develop Just do it – NOW attitude- never postpone things to tomorrow which could be done today. Not a new concept. We all know it but only some of us implement it. Those who do see the benefit. We need to practice it. I asked colleagues to write only three things that they would like to do to start on Just do it-now attitude. It has been a bit over two weeks since the workshop. Some colleagues shared with me that they implemented their plans and felt ‘good’.

… We all can write three things that we would like to do if we had limited time. Then, go ahead and do them right away because we actually have limited time. Three small steps: doable things in a stipulated time – will help us develop this attitude.