To ignore certain Teams calls when WFH?

[consortiar]

Does anyone do this?

I'm the middle of other work and/or perhaps don't particularly want to be put on the spot in a call so just ignore?

It's clear I'm available so they probably know too.

But why not just send an email?

Well, if I were at work that person would just come into my office and I'd see them so I answer the call as it's the same thing to me but we don't have lots of calls.

No I don't ignore them as my colleagues aren't arseholes and only call if it's too big for an email.

Plus it's usually the boss checking in because someone has reminded him he needs to say hello from time to time and check we're alive 😂

I've found there's some people who think they need immediate responses to a non-urgent query and call/IM when an email would have been fine. It's annoying but I do answer them. I then judge them accordingly 😂

You ignore work calls, when at work? Erm, totally not acceptable.

It would be like ignoring someone knocking at your office door. Obviously not withstanding when you can't take it (eg about to rush out or on the phone for other work purpose)

If you're working on something and can't be disturbed out your Teams onto Do Not Disturb.

I change my Teams status to “do not disturb” when I’m trying to concentrate on getting a specific piece of work done - that way my team know that I’m not “available” and also prevents me getting notifications of messages people may have posted in group chats as well (I’m too easily distracted 😏)

I've noticed this is usually done by people with "filler" jobs, if they dont have a few Teams in the day they feel like their role isnt important, which it isnt

If you had been in the office working before covid and the phone on your desk rang would you ignore it? I think the whole Covid thing has changed yeh way people work and not always for the better.

Good idea

Good idea

Yup. 99% people message beforehand.

Re the office you usually don't go up to someone typing like crazy or they can quickly tell you to wait few min. Unannounced calls are not picked up good

I put my Teams on do not disturb, or sometimes put an out of office if I have to focus on one specific tasks. Generally the culture at my workplace is to IM first before calling

I wouldn't just ignore it, that's very rude, I would at least send a message back saying I'm in the middle of something. I mean if a colleague came to my desk to talk to me, I wouldn't just turn my back to them and refuse to engage - same thing with Teams.

This. No reason to be rude OP.

You can ignore them if you want but don't be surprised if others begin to wonder if you are out shopping /at the gym/hoovering the house etc when you should be at your home desk and available.

This.

Just me then.

I block out time for focus but etiquette in my organisation is you message first, then if they're free you do a Google call. We don't use teams really for internal stuff.

Yep, I'm with everyone else. I put it on do not disturb. Otherwise I always take the call - same as I would in the office.

Talking about impirtance, when I was on lower grade quite a few of certain people kept doing this. When I spoke to my LM apparently she always got message first.

I do this sometimes. My day is filled with pre-booked Teams meetings from around 9:30-4:30 as it is and I never miss those. I try to leave a 5min break in calendar every few hours between calls to let me go for a wee etc. I've found recently people will ring me on Teams during that time (without any email or message beforehand) and depending on who it is I might ignore it. If I don't, I genuinely may not get another few mins to grab and drink or go for a wee for another few hours and I think that takes priority.

For those I ignore, I will IM shorty after to say sorry I missed the call and to ask them to briefly explain what they need (I'm on another call by then). Also, I'm always happy to jump on calls. But I resent not having an email or something to provide context first.

We don't get calls on teams. I do find Teams q annoying at times as even at work people use it when we are literally metres away and then they expect an immediate response to a message.

You ignore work calls, when at work? Erm, totally not acceptable.

If you're working on something and can't be disturbed out your Teams onto Do Not Disturb.

It depends on your job and why you're ignoring the call.

In some jobs, prioritising what's most important is absolutely vital. For example, sometimes I have to write a statement for someone to a very, very tight deadline. If I get a call on Teams from my boss while I'm doing that, or from someone involved in that situation, I'll answer it, because I know they will be calling with an urgent update about the statement I'm writing. If I get a call on Teams from someone who isn't involved, I'll ignore it because I need to properly focus on getting the statement drafted and their query is less urgent than the statement - if I took the non-urgent call, I wouldn't be doing my job properly.

Putting on Do Not Disturb in those circumstances isn't really suitable, because there are some calls I do need to take and some that I don't.

You can allow certain people through when you do this too

I ignore Teams calls but then I also ignored my desk phone ringing when I worked in an office. People call at their convenience, not mine. It’s not rude to focus on your work, FFS! If you need something urgent from me, email or text. But 99% of the time those calls aren’t urgent, they’re just from people who prefer calling to typing.

Exactly. When I'm in the office, I can ask someone in my team to grab the phone & take a message if I don't have time to speak at the moment. On Teams, you can set up a call forward, so after e.g. 10 rings it gets passed on to up to 5 other people, one of whom can take a message for me. I wouldn't ignore it all the time, but sometimes I just can't interrupt whatever I'm doing for a call.