Office communications protocol

[tvguy]

I can see where your wife's organization needs specific rules around notification if the focus of their jobs is not to sort through emails!!

Mine place is the same way. I make a habit of rotating through e-mail, twitter, facebook, our newsroom software (which has IM), Microsoft IM (which is rarely used) answering the phone, listening to the two way radio, police scanners, and police websites trying not to miss anything. But TV newsrooms get an amazing number of e-mails, typically 600 a day, with 200 of them coming in between 6 am and 9 am.

 

[mamacatnv]

I currently have a co-worker who thinks everyone is out to screw her and she emails everything then archives it all and then points out that on such and such date at such and such time she said X or someone else said X - it makes me crazy because its petty - sure, save the big stuff but stop with the petty.

I will not respond to her emails - I pick up the phone and call her, it annoys the heck out of her but I got sick of hearing "I already responded to that on this day at this time" or "I instructed you to do X yesterday and you haven't followed up yet, I just checked" that sort of thing.

I work in a satellite office, we don't have all of our staff next door so often its email but we also IM and phone as well.

Really depends on the subject matter

 

[maxaroni]

The preferred way in our company is telephone, email, or chat. Our email has a chat feature which can be one on one or group. Now, that is the preferred way... We try and get up and walk to someone's des...unless boss is in a bad mood.

 

[kwelch10377]

My office has over 2000 people in it so chances are the person I may need to talk to either sits on another floor or the other side of the building and then there are a few thousand more people in the field that I may need to interact with, so face to face is out of the question with them. As a whole we tend to use email or IM. It is the most efficient for us because many times there are numerous people that need to be a part of a conversation about something and if we need a task done it is more efficient to send it over in writing. Chances are if someone comes over and ask me to do something for them I am not going to be able to do it right at that second and I like having my email to reference what tasks need to be done. We are also very meeting heavy so trying to catch someone when they are not in a meeting can be a little cumbersome.

This isn't to say we don't interact face to face, like I said we are very meeting heavy and if someone just has a quick question we will just stop be each others cubes if it is someone who is in out direct area.

 

[cluvsdisney]

I usually walk over to the persons desk unless it's in reference to an email from a third party that I need to forward.

 

[tvguy]

In our office, people who e-mail and then call to tell you they e-mailed get made fun of. Mercilessly. It takes up twice the time, for both parties.

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That's funny. At my place, most of us are used to getting a face to face contact, email, phone call and IM on anything important. All from a different co-worker. We welcome it, and laugh because we have made sure something got communicated. The joke being, that in a communication business, communication doesn't always happen.

But reading through the responses I am reminded how different my work environment is. We pretty much start with a clean slate everyday. And within the day they are several hard deadlines. What was said, emailed or IMed today doesn't matter hours from now, or tomorrow in most cases, let alone months from now.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I mentioned this thread to DH who pointed out that another reason that much of what he does is via email is that he works with people in many countries spanning about multiple time zones (from Asia, Europe and North America)--email will be there whenever someone is awake and working and doesn't require stopping to figure out where the person is that you are communicating with and what time it is there (especially because he travels 80% of the time and some of the people he communicates with do as well--so knowing where they are is not easy).

OP, seems like almost everything you coordinate with co workers is right there in your building and almost instant time wise. That is vastly different than someone like my DH who is in charge of a running something for an entire continent and working with three other continents to coordinate their efforts--and timing tends to be more long term. Of course the communication would be different in such different environments and with such different needs.

 

[disneychrista]

People in my office I will get up and ask if it is something I need now. If it is just an FYI or when you have time I will email.

The best way to communicate for me with people not in my office is email. I am in and out all day. If you want something from me email me.. Don't call me because it I very likely I can't get you that info right now anyway.

 

[rodeo65]

Both, but predominantly e-mail. Colleague only, I'll e-mail. Friend as well as colleague, I'll occasionally stop at their desk. That accounts for my boss and two others in our department. The rest I e-mail. If I need the paper trail, I e-mail.

Just gearing up to start back to work on Friday. I left last August to home school our kids and have been asked back for the summer. I have to dust off my office protocols again.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

A pop in is usually something that can be handled quickly. So, I'm usually okay with that. I HATE calls for most stuff though. I'm sorry, I have 12 other things on my plate & you just became #13. You don't get to jump to the front of the line.

 

[JennyKS]

I work in an engineering office. Most things can't be resolved right away. I prefer to email me so I can see it, and remember I need to do it.

Though honestly I'd rather they email me anyway so I don't have to waste time with small talk.

 

[cluvsdisney]

A pop in is usually something that can be handled quickly. So, I'm usually okay with that. I HATE calls for most stuff though. I'm sorry, I have 12 other things on my plate & you just became #13. You don't get to jump to the front of the line.

I feel the same about phone calls, especially when the caller jumps in with their questions about whatever it is they need to know. I always make them back up and say "let's pretend I wasn't waiting for your call..."

 

[BadgerGirl84]

Totally depends on the industry and what the topic at hand is, IMO. I work in IT, so a lot of what I would need to discuss with someone involves screen shots, record numbers, configuration parameters, etc. I'm not always in the office, so if I am in the office and I send an email to someone in my area, I will usually write in the email "I'm in the office today so feel free to stop by my desk if you'd like to discuss in person."

 

[Gumbo4x4]

I feel the same about phone calls, especially when the caller jumps in with their questions about whatever it is they need to know. I always make them back up and say "let's pretend I wasn't waiting for your call..."

I'm stealing that one!

My boss is a phone guy & he drives everyone nuts. I overheard him one time asking a sales guy (who was driving) to find a place to pull over so he could write an address down while boss dictated it to him.

HELLO!!!! Why don't YOU put it in an email or text and send it to me & I'll look at it next time I stop?!??

And for a "phone guy", he won't listen to voice mails. I'll call at 11 am while he's on the plane and say, "Hey, when you get to your 2:00 meeting, ask those guys which building they need shipped first".

11:30, he gets off the plane, sees a missed call, calls and says "Did you call me?"

:facepalm:

 

[cabanafrau]

I work in an engineering office. Most things can't be resolved right away. I prefer to email me so I can see it, and remember I need to do it.

Though honestly I'd rather they email me anyway so I don't have to waste time with small talk.

Having worked several years for an engineering firm years ago & as the mother of an engineering student your small talk comment made me because it's so spot on in the world of engineers. (Ya gotta love 'em for it, though.)

From what I've seen and heard over the past several years I'd say it's far more common to handle a great deal of day to day business via email as opposed to face to face in most office environments anymore. I think OP overlooks that fact because of the type of work he does. ETA: Completely overlooked situations like my DH, where his colleagues are not in the same office, state or even sometimes country as he is. No face to face for him. I don't think he has met anyone on his team face to face, nor anyone up the current corporate chain of command in a good seven years minimum.

 

[jrmasm]

I prefer emails. If someone stops by to talk to me, they're likely interrrupting what I'm doing. At least if they call, I can ignore them.

 

[tvguy]

The best way to communicate for me with people not in my office is email. I am in and out all day. If you want something from me email me.. Don't call me because it I very likely I can't get you that info right now anyway.

All the out of office people I contact get their e-mail on their cell phone, and to say e-mail delivery that way is unreliable would be an understatement. They will immediately get a call too.

 

[tvguy]

I work in an engineering office. Most things can't be resolved right away. I prefer to email me so I can see it, and remember I need to do it.

Though honestly I'd rather they email me anyway so I don't have to waste time with small talk.

Yeah, in my case, almost all my requests need immediate action. "The President is speaking in 2 minutes, would you record it please".

 

[cabanafrau]

All the out of office people I contact get their e-mail on their cell phone, and to say e-mail delivery that way is unreliable would be an understatement. They will immediately get a call too.

But that's admittedly contingent upon your industry, which is not the norm. I don't have any problems receiving email on my phone either. It may not be looked at immediately upon receipt, which I think is your actual basis for criticism, but once again that's not a critical function for everyone in the same way as it may be in your workplace so I think it skews your opinion in ways that don't translate.

 

[tvguy]

But that's admittedly contingent upon your industry, which is not the norm. I don't have any problems receiving email on my phone either. It may not be looked at immediately upon receipt, which I think is your actual basis for criticism, but once again that's not a critical function for everyone in the same way as it may be in your workplace so I think it skews your opinion in ways that don't translate.

Agreed.