AIBU to to deem business phone calls as almost rude if they’re not urgent?

[Thisisit2022]

I’m prepared to be in the absolute minority on this! My job involves a huge amount of administration and I work directly for a very busy managing director. Both of us answer our emails in an incredibly timely manner, in fact our business and reputation depends upon this.

I consider my emails to be a sort of in-tray exercise and I deal and answer them in order of importance but always within a very quick time frame. I can deal with and dash off a massive amount of responses within a very short amount of time – as can the MD.

I find that I now get feel incredibly irritated by phone calls, 90% of which are not time important. Many of them are people trying to contact the MD and these only come through to me when the MD is genuinely in a meeting. Nine times out of ten the caller will respond “Oh no message, don’t worry, I’ll send an email”. Why didn’t they just email in the first place then? Also, phone calls take up far more time than an email despite the outcome being exactly the same.

I also prefer emails because they leave an admin trail that I can refer back to at a later date.

I feel irrationally irritated when I take calls that are about “something and nothing” but which have interrupted me doing something far more time sensitive. AIBU?

Emails nearly always better in a work context I agree

I prefer human contact and a discussion usually clarifies a lot more than an email. Depends on what your company does I suppose. I feel it’s a bit sad we’re moving away from choosing to speak to each other to embrace efficiency, but then I’m old

Lots of things are easier to clarify in a 5 minute conversation rather than a series of emails backwards and forwards, surely?

YABU. Just because you prefer emails, it doesnt mean that everyone else does.

I'm leaning towards YANBU just because I spent yesterday dealing with answering the same questions over and over by phone because people chose not to use the dedicated chat room we have set up which would have meant that I only needed to answer the question once, and then everyone could have seen the response. And I could have got on and done some work.

I often find that a whole series of emails is often needed when a five minute call where series of questions can be asked and responded to would have been way more efficient.

So I email when I think it's appropriate, and call when I think a brief discussion is required in the interests of clarity and efficiency.

I think yabu as just because emails work for your job doesn't mean they work well for others (and they might not be aware).

I get annoyed at people emailing me useless inbox clutter- things that should just be a quick verbal question or a message on teams. It doesn't work for my job where I need to be able to sort important priject info and correspondence from the chaff of random requests or several emails around what date we should organise a meeting or something equally tedious which would have been so much easier as a quick phone call than 5 emails back and forth

Everyone works differently and inbox clutter is a real issue for some people so maybe they think they are sparing you that

I hardly ever call people - but my boss (also an "extremely busy MD", as it happens) does.

I've come to conclude he does it, among other things, to sometimes just check in on people and have a quick chat besides what he's actually calling about. I really quite like this about his leadership style.

I would say YABU. There’s no rule that email is the only way to contact people and I would suggest it is not the most efficient in many cases

It depends on the field, however saying that I agree that email is better just for the writing and paper trail alone especially when it comes to admin.

Yes, phone calls can be quick but if the connection is dodgy, can’t understand someone’s accent, further information is required that you can’t simply tell someone, email is better. It’s also easier to pass information to a colleague if there is an email chain in case you go on holiday or leave instead of them having to phone you or wait until you return if urgent.

@SoManyQuestionsHere

I hardly ever call people - but my boss (also an "extremely busy MD", as it happens) does.

I've come to conclude he does it, among other things, to sometimes just check in on people and have a quick chat besides what he's actually calling about. I really quite like this about his leadership style.

The new version of "management by walking about" perhaps?

YABU. As much as I prefer email, or texting in work settings for convenience. I understand that some people prefer talking.

Pretty much, I suppose, except in a nice way. We've all been WFH for the most part during the last two years, and it genuinely has taken its toll on our previously close-knit bonds within the team. Hence why I actually really like his 'randomly calling and sometimes going off on a bit of a tangent'.

I always think with calls that the caller must assume I'm sat available right at that moment to take the call, be able to immediately understand the query and give a response.

It's quite arrogant in a way. Everyone is busy.

Even an email "hey, can you ring me when you are free to talk through something" is better as it shows an understanding of workloads.

I definetly prefer email for all the reasons you do too.

I agree, it's also easier to track and file e mails rather than calls, where you have to write notes after converstaions.

Yanbu.
I much prefer emails. I will call if you haven't responded to my email, or to my chaser email

You’re being irrational. If his phone is on divert to you surely answering it is part of your job? Sure it may be frustrating to have to stop what you’re doing to answer it but you don’t get to pick how people want to interact with your boss.

The people who are calling to speak to your boss but then don’t leave a message would presumably in order of preference, and this is very common,

• speak to the MD
• email the MD
• leave a message with you

This is particularly the case when you need to discuss something to get advice or find solutions rather than just factually seeking a fixed piece of information.

So no point in acting surprised and being annoyed when they can’t do 1 and then turn to 2.

I think this is unreasonable. My work prefer Teams messages or phone calls for many easily resolved things. Emails get lost among millions of small ones about small mattets. Also it's nice to talk to people. Work distractions are just life.

@SoManyQuestionsHere

Pretty much, I suppose, except in a nice way. We've all been WFH for the most part during the last two years, and it genuinely has taken its toll on our previously close-knit bonds within the team. Hence why I actually really like his 'randomly calling and sometimes going off on a bit of a tangent'.

Oh I didn't mean it pejoratively. It was a positive method in my book

YABU. And a robot.

@Chemenger

Lots of things are easier to clarify in a 5 minute conversation rather than a series of emails backwards and forwards, surely?

This, definitely for certain things.

@saraclara

I often find that a whole series of emails is often needed when a five minute call where series of questions can be asked and responded to would have been way more efficient.

So I email when I think it's appropriate, and call when I think a brief discussion is required in the interests of clarity and efficiency.

This

Depends on context - I find a 5 minute conversation can replace 10 plus emails and achieve a better outcome

I’ve realised I’ve read this wrong.

If it is an urgent matter, of course call, but I agree with you that if it’s not urgent and something that could wait, email is better. It’s not that different between sending a text or calling someone.

@BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz

I always think with calls that the caller must assume I'm sat available right at that moment to take the call, be able to immediately understand the query and give a response.

It's quite arrogant in a way. Everyone is busy.

Even an email "hey, can you ring me when you are free to talk through something" is better as it shows an understanding of workloads.

I definetly prefer email for all the reasons you do too.

That's exactly what I was trying to say about how I felt! Before email existed then phone calls were necessary. Now that we have email as a means of communication, if a non-urgent response is required it does feel arrogant that I drop what I'm in the middle of to address the query, plus it takes longer than if I had that question to hand in an email.