In This Episode

Do you have a preferred form of communication?  In today’s day and age there are so many options to choose from including phone, text, email, and social media. Are you old enough to remember “long-distance” calls.  What about rotary dial phones?  Is there a best way to communicate?

With so many options, we find it’s helpful to figure out how to best communicate in different situations, which includes which tool to use to communicate.  It often helps to create little rules for yourself.  For instance, we had a client years ago who had a rule related to texting that said if you need to text back and forth more than a couple of times then it makes sense to just call and discuss instead of going back and forth with texting.  And I think we all have experienced the different rabbit holes we can go down when spending time on social media.

One of the most misused forms of communication we find in business is email.  This is especially true of folks who tend to be a little more introverted and tech savvy.  These are folks who will email you and then text or call you in the next few minutes or hours to let you know they sent you an email and wonder why you haven’t responded already.  This is one of the reasons we’ve set a 24-hour rule with email.  We let all of our clients know that if they have an urgent issue that they should text or call us whereas emails are more for things that aren’t as urgent.  We let them know that we will respond to emails within 24 hours but quicker with texts or phone calls.  Otherwise you will have emails interrupting and directing you all day versus you working your own plan and making email a part of it.

During the show today we shared several examples of where and how email is abused in business.  The key here is to mix up which tools you use to communicate your message.  While we all have a preferred way to communicate, keep in mind the person we’re communicating with and perhaps they have a preferred method.  Like the friend who you text and they immediately call you to see how you’re doing!

People, Companies and Resources We Mentioned in the Show

Casey Kasey Long Distance Dedications https://www.allmusic.com/album/casey-kasem-presents-the-long-distance-dedications-mw0000453352

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