Today’s Mad, Sad, Glad. by Wendii Lord hit dead-on for all three links.
Voicemail: Still Kickin’
I’d like to add my amen in particular to her note on voicemail: it’s still useful.
If you call me, get voicemail and don’t leave a message then I’ll probably assume you don’t need a call back. In fact, I’m not going to bother matching your number to a name if you don’t leave a message.
Sometimes I’ll call someone and get their voicemail only to realize I really could figure things out on my own. I hang up and find my own way.
I’m surprised when they call back and ask, “Hey, I missed a call from this number?” I’m sure they’re trying to be helpful. It seems kinda needy: you really have time to return calls when you have no idea whether or not they were a wrong number?
If it wasn’t important enough for me to leave a message then you definitely don’t need to bother yourself calling back.
Asynchronous On Demand
What’s really bothersome about the assumption/observation that people don’t leave messages anymore is that it points to a less forgiving communication model: talk now OR NEVER.
I’m no fan of phone tag. I don’t want to have whole conversations over voicemail. On the other hand, I’m no fan of letting my phone win every contest for my attention.
If I’m interviewing someone, if I’m meeting with an employee, or if I feel that not taking a call is a better use of my time then I should be able to let the call go to voicemail.
Phone Call Triage
Because I live in a world where voicemail exists I am free to miss calls — even when I hear the phone and am physically capable of answering.
For gee whiz, let me tell you how I decide whether or not to answer the phone.
Production Outages Win
I have a different ringtone (and different vibration pattern) for production incident calls. Since having the site go down affects hundreds of people every minute I want to immediately respond to these calls. Even if I’m in a one-on-one with my boss I’ll excuse myself and get this taken care of.
Scheduled Communications Win
If it’s not production calling, then the person I’m with beats the person on the phone. I may step out of a large informational meeting when my phone rings, but generally I prioritize planned communications over ad-hoc ones.
My Wife Has a Veto
Finally, my wife and I have a system we’ve used for years that balances both of our needs: she is free to call at any time; I’m free to ignore her call for any reason.
Really, any reason.
But, if my wife calls twice in a row then it’s an emergency and she knows that I’ll drop everything to answer. This system has worked very well.
Slow Down Jackrabbit
While it’s tempting to use on-demand communication to replace messages and post-its, it’s just not practical. The more frivolous calls I get the more I’m inclined to send you to voicemail.
As a matter of fact, before you call me pretend you’re going to get my voicemail. Prepare a quick message. If you get me instead then the call will go better anyway thanks to your preparation.
