Why Didn't You Respond?

It's hard not to take it personally, when we don't get the hoped for reaction from others.  There may be multiple terrific reasons that aren't even remotely related to us, including:

• Talking on the phone with a hands-free device that isn't obvious
• Didn't see us
• Didn't hear us
• Totally absorbed in something
• Forgot
• Didn't actually receive the message
• Language or customs difference

When we feel confident, it's easier to accept that we may simply need to try again to reach our intended party. 

Returned Calls

I get countless calls from strangers.  Too many callers spend valuable voice mail minutes stating their request then speed through their callback number.  I'm more charitable than many of my friends and colleagues.  I try to decipher the number and return the call.  Understandably, for many, these recordings generate an automatic deletion of the message. And, it's irritating and an unfortunate waste of my time to have to replay minutes of a message to interpret speedily delivered numbers.

Anyone can tremendously boost their chances of a returned call by slowly and clearly stating at the beginning and end of the message who you are and how to reach you.  Most importantly, give us a reason that is important to us, rather than you, to return the call.

Yes or No?

We generally love to say and hear "yes" and we don't usually enjoy saying or hearing "no".  Both timely answers are important.  Indecision saps productivity by keeping everyone involved in a holding pattern. Answers allow closure.  We can move forward with implemention or next steps when the answer is positive.  And when the answer is negative, we can move to another option or opportunity. Timely answers provide one of the easiest productivity improvements available.

Responsiveness

We all have different expectations of responsiveness. With the proliferation of technology, we've become prone to estimating and timing the other party's response as soon as we send our message.

My dear, deceased father-in-law often relayed a far different timetable for response. When he began practicing law, deadlines were driven by train schedules. A document sent via train to New York wouldn't be received for days. This volley built in time for deliberation between responses.

The advent of fax communications provided a quick way to exchange information. But because it was transmission of a static document, time was still built in to manually edit documents before the next transmission.

With the broad use of email transmission of word-processed documents and the wide acceptance of email questions and answers, we've gained immediacy of communications, but sometimes at the expense of time for fruitful consideration of alternatives. Because the clock is ticking, we often respond with our first reasonable answer.

We can probably all benefit from the conscious communication of realistic time-frames for response to our important inquiries, orders and requests.