For many an officer worker, receiving delayed responses to requests is a common frustration. The silence can seem interminable, and our minds can easily slide into making negative assumptions: “he doesn’t care about collaborating” or “she’s deliberately holding up the process.”
But there are ways to mitigate this. The bottom line: 1) create reciprocity by being responsive, 2) try to make requests that your colleagues can respond to quickly and easily.
Caveat: this post applies to communications between colleagues where text is exchanged. Of course, there will be times when simply wandering over to your colleague’s desk or giving them a call would be the better option.
Back to textual communications:
When I receive a request at work, whether by email, Slack, Skype, Trello, or Teams (yes, too many tools), I quickly review it and place it in one of two categories: 1) “I’ll do this now” or 2) “I’ll do this later.”
There are several factors that play into the review:
1) how important and/or urgent is the request?
2) will I hold up a process if I sit on this for a while?
3) who is the request sender?
4) how long will it take to complete?
As request senders, we can only make a small impact on the first two, so I would advise focusing on the third and fourth.
On factor 3: If you are responsive to requests, seek to help your colleagues out, and express gratitude to them, this will create reciprocity. In other words: showing a spirit of collaboration and gratitude will pay dividends when you need others to do the same. I’m much more willing to accept quick turnarounds or to work late into the night for colleagues whom I know would do the same for me.
On factor 4: Tasks that take time need to be noted in some way – flagged to return to later, jotted down, or copied and pasted into a task management system. If the time taken to respond to your request is equal to or less than the time it would take to note the request, then your colleague is likely to respond immediately.
Tips for minimising the perceived size of your requests:
- phrase questions in a way that allows a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response.
- favour short, regular, and specific contact over collecting diverse questions and requests into burdensome heaps.
- employ tools that cut formalities: large or important tasks may merit the time invested in adhering to letter or email etiquette. Your quick question and your colleague’s rapid response do not.
- start your ask with the words “quick question:”
- use surveys and polls that ask specific questions or to give concrete options. Instead of asking ‘please could you share your thoughts and suggestions on the training,’ create a short survey that will prompt pertinent responses, then ask ‘please could you take 3-5 minutes to fill in this four-question survey about the training?’
Allez! Get those answers!