Sunday, 19 Jun 2005

Dysfunctional reply button syndrome

I’ve received three emails this week alone which started with “Sorry I took a while to get back to you…”

Some of us might recall a time when people eagerly awaited receiving an email, which would be written in careful length, and contain an insightful commentary. No longer. I’m not the first person to observe this, but it’s funny how the way people deal with email has changed over the last few years.

For most, email was their first exposure to an electronic store-and-forward message system. However, the fact that so many people in the corporate world spend (during working hours at least) most of their days planted in their chair in front of their computer means that many people have long since passed the point of being amazed by the fact that it all works, and instead now expect — and even demand — an instant response.

It’s made worse by people with BlackBerries. You send them a short email, perhaps only a paragraph or two, asking which of three different courses of action to take. They (immediately) respond with

sure

making it blindingly obvious that they didn’t read your email after all, which really makes you wonder why they bother carrying the things in the first place.

[I wore one of the pager sized ones for three years. I was thrilled to be rid of it. I carry my laptop all the time anyway - and a full size keyboard & screen beats the hell out of madly banging away with your thumbs while you squint your eyes trying to see what you’re writing]

Anyway, the ubiquity of people emailing correspondents who sit two desks away leads to such silliness as “did you get my email?” Of course they got the email, unless the corporate mail server is down, in which case the entire company grinds to a halt, there are screams of anguish, and the life expectancy of the IT Manager (or at least, the remaining duration of her status as a salaried employee) can be measured in minutes. What they really meant was “did you read my email, consider it carefully, and more to the point, why haven’t you replied yet, you lazy bastard?!?”

Frankly, I appreciate someone who takes the time to gather facts, marshal their argument, and send a well written, concise, but thorough message. Winston Churchill once said in the prescript to a correspondent

I’m sorry I haven’t had the time to write you a shorter letter

We could all use some of that.

Certainly, prompt replies are appreciated, but I think it’s wrong of us to expect them, even in our hyperkinetic age. Besides, if it’s that important, pick up the phone… or maybe walk two doors down and say hello to your neighbour. Meanwhile, for the rest who just want to make a reply, no need to apologize — it’s more than enough that you took the time to reply out of your hectic schedule, so thank you very much.

AfC

email-response, posted by Andrew Cowie in comment at 2005-06-19T13:38:09Z

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