5 ms·

"Pick up the phone I find it surprising how out-of-vogue the phone is — so much stuff is just faster on the phone!" As a general rule I very strongly disagree

by ergo98 16y ago

"Pick up the phone I find it surprising how out-of-vogue the phone is — so much stuff is just faster on the phone!" As a general rule I very strongly disagree with this. The phone is a good tool if you enjoy revisiting the same discussion again, and again, and again, each time with a "telephone game" (there's a reason it was named such) misinterpretation of everything that was previously discussed. Sure, there are appropriate discussions that can take place over the phone, but in this industry it's usually a good interpersonal vehicle, but a horrendous way of coming to decisions or communicating ideas.

AndrewWarner 16y ago
Chris should probably do a post on how he uses the phone. He's very quick but never feels abrupt. I often have a problem with letting people know a call is over and I need to move on. So, like you say, calls often become a time suck for me and I avoid them.
- BrandonM 16y ago
  Two keys: 1. Remember that a lot of other people don't like being on the phone, either, especially during the work day. When your reason for calling has been resolved, it's perfectly acceptable to say, "Well that's all I had, thank you." If it's someone you know, say that you'll see them soon (if you really will), or that you'll call them later that night or that week (if you intend to). 2. For those people who will keep going on and on, go into the conversation with clear goals and an exit strategy. To end the call, tell the other party that you have other calls to make, work to get back to, or strategically make the call before a meeting or appointment or in transit (e.g., about to enter a subway).
BrandonM 16y ago
> Sure, there are appropriate discussions that can take place over the phone, but in this industry it's usually a good interpersonal vehicle, but a horrendous way of coming to decisions or communicating ideas. I very strongly disagree with this. Email correspondence is subject to subpoena; there is some stuff that just should not be said in email for liability reasons. It's also easy for someone to miss something in a longer email, or for a couple people to have to go back and forth several times to clarify a point or explain incorrect interpretations. Phone calls are very useful when they are supplemented with note-taking, especially in the context of work tickets * . You communicate ideas more quickly, you are completely in control of what is on the record, and it's much more difficult to have misunderstandings. * At my current job, when we have a phone call we record in the work ticket a summary of the relevant (non-sensitive) details of the discussion along with the deliverables.
sp4rki 16y ago
You're so correct. Why use the phone when I can answer on my terms and time with a two sentence answer in less than 10 seconds. Using the phone takes those 10 seconds just to call the person. The phone is a tool for emergencies and to shorten distance, not to make conversations longer than they should be.
- adamtj 16y ago
  When you are one of two or three people in an open ended back-and-forth conversation, often a 15 minute phone call can save a dozen three paragraph emails (plus the dozen interruptions) over the course of several hours. You get your answer sooner, you have fewer total interruptions, and you spend less time over-explaining, because listeners can instantly indicate their understanding. Email is a relatively low-bandwidth channel that's inappropriate for high-bandwidth problems. Sometimes, a 5 sentence email is great. Other times, you need phone call. Sometimes, it's worth flying to meet somebody face to face for an hour.
  - sp4rki 16y ago
    That may be so on your case, but I've found in my experience that generally if a phone call is more productive than email it's because the topic at hand has not been developed enough to use a quick action based method to deal with the communication. I believe there are three situations in which a phone call is better than an email. A sales pitch, which would be a gazillion times more efficient if done face to face; a brainstorming conversation, which would be a lot better if it was divided in a solitary work period followed by a cumulative peer based review in person; and when there's a imperative need to switch directions ASAP, which will hinder productivity anyways however you look at it. Of course your millage may vary and I'm not trying to convince you your're wrong, specially because you aren't since this is a a topic very influences by personal preference. I just find that every instance where the telephone could outdo an email, is because either the parties involved where not properly prepared with the required resources in their possession, or because the type of communication was not meant to be written in the first place. Generally this last type works better in person. Almost always.
prawn 16y ago
Two of my pet hates are: 1. "I was going to email back but I thought it would be easier to call" followed by an unnecessarily long conversation that covers very little of use, and then one party having to email something to the other anyway. You can't copy and paste via the phone. You can't attach files~. Those two things are very common in my business! 2. The call which starts "I've just sent you an email. Have you got it yet?" "Nope, how long ago did you send it?" "Oh, just now. Oh wait, it's still in my outbox, wait a sec." Followed by a bland wait. This also happens far too often (1-2 times/day). ~ Last time I thought about this I got sidetracked imagining a stupid venture where you could send an attachment (emailed or via file upload) to a phone number. If the service had an email on file for that phone number, it'd just pass it on. If not, it'd robo-call the number to give a pick-up code and web address. Of course, the people that don't have email addresses (concreter needs a builders drawing, etc) are generally those who would be confused as hell by a robo-call talking about file downloads...

by ergo98 16y ago

AndrewWarner 16y ago

Chris should probably do a post on how he uses the phone. He's very quick but never feels abrupt. I often have a problem with letting people know a call is over and I need to move on. So, like you say, calls often become a time suck for me and I avoid them.

BrandonM 16y ago
Two keys: 1. Remember that a lot of other people don't like being on the phone, either, especially during the work day. When your reason for calling has been resolved, it's perfectly acceptable to say, "Well that's all I had, thank you." If it's someone you know, say that you'll see them soon (if you really will), or that you'll call them later that night or that week (if you intend to). 2. For those people who will keep going on and on, go into the conversation with clear goals and an exit strategy. To end the call, tell the other party that you have other calls to make, work to get back to, or strategically make the call before a meeting or appointment or in transit (e.g., about to enter a subway).

BrandonM 16y ago

> Sure, there are appropriate discussions that can take place over the phone, but in this industry it's usually a good interpersonal vehicle, but a horrendous way of coming to decisions or communicating ideas. I very strongly disagree with this. Email correspondence is subject to subpoena; there is some stuff that just should not be said in email for liability reasons. It's also easy for someone to miss something in a longer email, or for a couple people to have to go back and forth several times to clarify a point or explain incorrect interpretations. Phone calls are very useful when they are supplemented with note-taking, especially in the context of work tickets * . You communicate ideas more quickly, you are completely in control of what is on the record, and it's much more difficult to have misunderstandings. * At my current job, when we have a phone call we record in the work ticket a summary of the relevant (non-sensitive) details of the discussion along with the deliverables.

sp4rki 16y ago

You're so correct. Why use the phone when I can answer on my terms and time with a two sentence answer in less than 10 seconds. Using the phone takes those 10 seconds just to call the person. The phone is a tool for emergencies and to shorten distance, not to make conversations longer than they should be.

adamtj 16y ago
When you are one of two or three people in an open ended back-and-forth conversation, often a 15 minute phone call can save a dozen three paragraph emails (plus the dozen interruptions) over the course of several hours. You get your answer sooner, you have fewer total interruptions, and you spend less time over-explaining, because listeners can instantly indicate their understanding. Email is a relatively low-bandwidth channel that's inappropriate for high-bandwidth problems. Sometimes, a 5 sentence email is great. Other times, you need phone call. Sometimes, it's worth flying to meet somebody face to face for an hour.
- sp4rki 16y ago
  That may be so on your case, but I've found in my experience that generally if a phone call is more productive than email it's because the topic at hand has not been developed enough to use a quick action based method to deal with the communication. I believe there are three situations in which a phone call is better than an email. A sales pitch, which would be a gazillion times more efficient if done face to face; a brainstorming conversation, which would be a lot better if it was divided in a solitary work period followed by a cumulative peer based review in person; and when there's a imperative need to switch directions ASAP, which will hinder productivity anyways however you look at it. Of course your millage may vary and I'm not trying to convince you your're wrong, specially because you aren't since this is a a topic very influences by personal preference. I just find that every instance where the telephone could outdo an email, is because either the parties involved where not properly prepared with the required resources in their possession, or because the type of communication was not meant to be written in the first place. Generally this last type works better in person. Almost always.

prawn 16y ago

Two of my pet hates are: 1. "I was going to email back but I thought it would be easier to call" followed by an unnecessarily long conversation that covers very little of use, and then one party having to email something to the other anyway. You can't copy and paste via the phone. You can't attach files~. Those two things are very common in my business! 2. The call which starts "I've just sent you an email. Have you got it yet?" "Nope, how long ago did you send it?" "Oh, just now. Oh wait, it's still in my outbox, wait a sec." Followed by a bland wait. This also happens far too often (1-2 times/day). ~ Last time I thought about this I got sidetracked imagining a stupid venture where you could send an attachment (emailed or via file upload) to a phone number. If the service had an email on file for that phone number, it'd just pass it on. If not, it'd robo-call the number to give a pick-up code and web address. Of course, the people that don't have email addresses (concreter needs a builders drawing, etc) are generally those who would be confused as hell by a robo-call talking about file downloads...