Phone Use

More and more, people are using e-mail as a form of communication as opposed to simply picking up the phone. I know that I am guilty of it. I was recently at a convention for an organization I belong to where the president of the organization made the comment that when we have direct questions we should just dial and call as opposed to sending a lengthy e-mail.

I felt inspired by this and the following week, I called the president of the organization to directly ask him a question. He was unavailable and I left a message with his assistant. Four days later, I had not heard from him, so I called again. Again, I left a message with his assistant, but this time pointed out that I had called per his request as opposed to e-mailing him my simple question. Later that day he returned my call apologetically and acknowledged that he had simply forgotten to call me back.

I know that I expect a lot from people, but I do not find it unreasonable to expect a return call within forty-eight hours. It may simply be a message acknowledging receipt of my call and that they will get back with an answer as soon as possible. All I need to know is that you got my message and that you will work on my issue.