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At the risk of seeming like a dinosaur and old school, I have a pet peeve and a suggestion. They involve messages.
My frustration is that in today's business world, too many people regard messages as gnats—small annoyances to be ignored. I recognize we're all bombarded with communications from a ridiculously wide variety of media, but I still believe when it comes to business messages we have a responsibility to separate the wheat from the chaff and deal constructively with them.
A week of silence
This subject has been on my mind recently, as I've been speaking with a friend who had emailed a prospective employer (the owner of a small business) his resume and some work samples following a productive conversation between the two of them. And then heard nothing back. After a week of silence passed (longer than I personally would have had the patience to wait), I suggested he text the business owner to jump-start the process and make sure the materials had in fact been safely received. My friend texted the business owner and got back an immediate answer. The substance of which was: "Oh, yes, I've been meaning to get back to you! Absolutely, I was impressed with everything you sent and would like to set up a time to talk. How's next Tuesday?".
Well, OK, fine. But why did the business owner take a week and need to be re-contacted to respond to my friend's communication? During that time three unintended things could easily have happened—none of them favorable. My talented friend could have pursued (and even taken) a position elsewhere. Or he could have concluded the employer was just not interested in him, and mentally moved on. Or he could have concluded the employer was disorganized and rude and was just not the kind of person he wanted to work for. Fortunately, by reaching out and renewing the contact, my friend kept a potentially productive relationship afloat.
Bear in mind I'm not focusing on random messages from all across the galaxy with no connection to you. If someone from an organization you've never heard of cold calls or emails you and leaves a message about buying swampland in Florida, sure, you're under no obligation whatsoever to respond. In fact, you'll likely be wasting your time responding. This is about reasonable business messages from someone with whom you have a legitimate business connection.
Efficient and effective
My own corporate career took place in a voicemail culture, and I made a point of reviewing all of my messages each evening before leaving and returning the legitimate ones. I'm not trying to sound holier than thou, and I fully admit that over the course of a long management career, I made so many mistakes I can no longer remember the first several hundred. But not returning messages in a timely manner wasn't one of them.
Sure, messages can be annoying, but the reality is it usually takes little time to return them. For example, the business owner discussed above could easily have texted my friend: "Thx for your info, very impressive! I'm super busy this week, but let's connect for sure next." I doubt that would have taken more than two minutes.
The bottom line: Returning messages promptly and effectively sets a positive tone. For relatively little effort, it helps you come across as efficient, professional, and responsible. A solid individual to work with.
Let's just say it's good business. It sends the right message.
