After the tone, please hang up and text me: Why I hate voicemail

"Woohoo, voicemail!"

Do you ever think that? I don't. I see the red light on my work phone and I feel like I've been sternly called into the boss's office.

Voicemail is among my least favorite forms of communication, somewhere between "barely legible Post-It note" and "swift kick to the shins." The good news is, I think it will soon go the way of the pager and the overhead projector, and here's why:

It's awkward. There is something disconcerting about hearing one side of a conversation. It's why hearing a stranger yammer on their cell phone is more annoying than hearing two people chatting nearby. Our brain perceives the gaps and longs to fill them with replies or questions. I'll sometimes say, "Wait, what was that?" while replaying a voicemail, but the person at the other end never pauses.

It's slow. My office phone won't let me delete a message until I've played it all the way through. This is annoying when our school district's auto-dialer leaves a 3-minute recording listing every after-school activity that's cancelled because of the truly awful weather. (All of them. They're all cancelled. Let's move on, please.)

Replying isn't always simple. When you receive an email, you can see who it's from and reply with a click. About once a month, I get a voicemail from an elderly woman who has mistaken my office phone number for that of her adult son or daughter. She begins with "Hi, it's your Mom" in heavily accented English, then switches into an unfamiliar Asian language for a 15-20 minute monologue which ends with "Call me, I miss you." I don't know how to tell her she has the wrong number. Meanwhile, her actual son or daughter is receiving bilingual guilt trips for never returning Mom's calls.*

It puts the burden on the receiver. Is leaving a long voicemail easier than sending an email message? Yes, for the person who's leaving the message. Email requires you to organize your thoughts. Texting requires you to pare down your message to its most essential components. A stream-of-consciousness voicemail is much easier to give than to receive.

It's mostly obsolete. Answering machines and voicemail filled a  gap before email or texting, when you needed to get a message to a person who wasn't available to take your call. Pagers and fax machines were handy, too, but we're doing fine without them.

It's the worst of both worlds. Talking on the phone has some huge advantages over written communication: You can hear tone of voice, express empathy, and engage in warmer dialogue than via email. But much of that warmth dissipates when you're leaving a soliloquy at the command of a disembodied robot voice.


I can think of two scenarios in which voicemail is the best tool available: 1. When you're driving (although, really, 99% of the time, it can wait) and 2. When you need to reach somebody, the only contact info you have is their phone number, and you're not sure if that number accepts texts.

If you can think of another scenario, let me know. Just don't leave me a voicemail.

* This is especially weird, because I also have an immigrant mother whom I don't call often enough. She leaves me sweet voicemails in Polish, in which she introduces herself as my Mom. I'm teaching her to email.

Notes From New York: Internal Social Media

Last week, I had the opportunity to represent U.S. Bank at a meeting of Social Media.org, a council of like-minded professionals from large companies. The topic of our meeting was internal social media, or how we use social tools to connect employees. While I can’t share the details of the people or companies who made these statements, here are some of my favorite nuggets of knowledge that I brought home:



Finding expertise – There are people who need information. There are people who have information. In a big company, they may not be aware of who each other are… until the right tool allows them to connect.

Knowledge is power – This isn’t new, but an internal social network turns old dynamics upside down. Sharing knowledge gives you visibility and influence; hoarding knowledge makes you a non-entity. Anyone, anywhere in the organization, can share knowledge and build credibility based on what they know and how well they communicate it.

Leadership support is critical - While social media is a great democratizer, the voices of leaders (especially executives) resonate loudest. You don’t need every leader to be on board right away, but you do need someone to shine the beacon.

Leaders care what employees are saying – Gather key messages and themes from your internal social network and present it to leaders in a format they can use for their Monday meeting.
Asking questions – Even if the answer is in a FAQ somewhere, there is something important and inherently personal about asking a question of an online community. Give people that opportunity: Let them feel heard, valued, and supported through the act of asking and receiving an answer.

Trust your employees – Give real answers from real experts. If an employee is complaining about a benefit change, have a HR leader post a straight explanation of the rationale for the change. People may not agree with every policy, but they respect honesty. Don’t force a communications rep to be a messenger of vague platitudes.

Participation – When setting your expectations for participation, remember the 90-9-1 rule of online communities: 1% of members contribute original content, 9% comment or respond to content, and 90% are lurkers.

Conversations happen - If you’re concerned about giving employees access to social media, because they might have off-topic conversations or share incorrect info… remember that those conversations happen anyway in office hallways or on Facebook. Putting them on an internal social network gives you transparency, insight, a safe environment, and a chance to be part of the dialogue.

Blog your best news – Using a blog lets you brag and share your team’s accomplishments without blasting a self-promoting email to 200 people.



And, a few "Don'ts" -

Don’t design tools for the people who never use them. Find the people who are hungry to use social tools, and design with them in mind. Don’t waste your energy trying to please the people who don’t get it. They’ll adopt the tools eventually, when they’re left with no choice.


Don’t promote the tool for its own sake. Tell true, detailed stories about how social networking will make work easier, will make employees more effective, will solve real problems that people are facing today.

Don’t send everyone through the same training. Technical training should be optional, self-paced, and delivered at the time of need. Policies should be taught through examples: Offer a “social media challenge of the week” and ask employees how they would respond to a realistic scenario. Don’t make everyone sit through a boring class or click through a web-based course that they’ll instantly forget.



I expect more ideas to form as I continue going through my conference notes and having follow-up conversations with the people I met in New York.

Most striking to me was the similarity of our experiences. Even though we were in different companies, across different industries, using different technology, we all faced the same challenges. The adoption curve is steep, culture change is slow, and enterprise technology isn’t always nimble. But learning from each other, talking through our problems, and sharing our suggestions convinced me how important this work is. People are natural collaborators. We’re never going to achieve our best results working in silos, isolated from one another. It’s true for the tireless champions of internal social media at companies around the world, and it’s true for the employees we’re working to connect.

5 New(ish) Communication Skills Leaders Need

“I’ll never use Facebook. Forget Linked In; that’s why I have a Rolodex. The symbol # is called pound, and it’s a button on my phone – which is plugged into my wall.”

If this sounds like you, I have some bad news and some good news.

The bad news is, social media isn’t a trend you’ll be able to wait out. In 10 years, Facebook may look as dated as a pair of acid wash jeans, but the concept of being in simultaneous conversation with just about everyone you know – that idea is significantly, permanently changing the way human beings relate to the world and one another. Leading employees in this world requires us to strengthen and practice a new set of communication skills.

The good news is, you can develop these skills without sending a single tweet.

1. Do dialogue well.

Meetings make us worse at dialogue. In a crowded meeting room, time is limited, and the ideas that prevail are the ones that get spoken aloud before moving to the next agenda topic. Traditional business meetings condition us to await our turn to speak, rather than to listen with an open mind.

Dialogue is fluid, collaborative, and open-ended. With online dialogue, there are no limits to how long your conversation can last and how many voices can be heard. You can comment on a blog written four years ago. In discussion forums, "off-topic" threads tend to be the most lively. Respect this openness and resist the urge to control every conversation or spin it back to a pre-formulated agenda. Creative ideas and surprising connections often come from unstructured conversations.


2. Make feedback a daily habit.

We live in a world where people are accustomed to giving and hearing immediate feedback on matters large and small. On Twitter, people constantly and instantly share their opinions about everything from Congressional decisions to new flavors of potato chips. On Facebook, we post a photo or status update and wait for the comments and “Likes” to roll in.

It’s unrealistic and unfair to expect our employees to only give and receive feedback about their jobs once a year. While annual reviews and surveys are useful tools, conversations about job performance and work environment need to be ongoing. Facebook asks its users “What’s on your mind?” every day. Your employees deserve the same courtesy from you.


3. Be succinct.

Twitter’s magic is brevity. Whether or not you tweet, practice distilling important messages into 140 characters for impact and clarity.


4. Respect communication styles and preferences.

Quick: Identify the introverts and extraverts on your team. Can you do it?

Introverts tend to develop their best ideas through quiet reflection, while extraverts draw energy from social interactions and prefer to “think aloud.” Some people straddle the middle ground, but most of us have a dominant style. If you're unfamiliar with introversion, listen to this TED talk for an insightful explanation.

Engage your team in a variety of ways to let the different styles shine. Use brainstorming meetings to engage extraverts, but send out the materials ahead of time or keep a discussion forum going afterward so that introverts have time to process and analyze the data before responding.


5. Know which tool to use for maximum impact.

Not every message is best expressed via email. I recently blogged about how to choose among the tools in our toolbox. As online communication evolves, we’re likely to see new tools added and refined.

Also, find out the preferred communication tool for each of your employees. Some people appreciate the speed and simplicity of instant messenger, while others find it intrusive. Some people love to talk on the phone, while others order their pizzas online. With more tools than ever, there are more ways to perfectly reach the people with whom you communicate.

Even if your phone is still plugged into a wall.

E-Mail is a #2 Pencil: Choosing the Right Communication Tool

Most of us learn to draw with crayons and learn to write with a pencil. In elementary school, we’re handed markers, watercolor paints, glue sticks and elbow macaroni. Later, we get access to the dangerous tools like pastels, Xacto knives, and Adobe Creative Suite. If you’re brave and artistic, these tools are liberating. For the rest of us, it’s tempting to keep reaching for those trusty yellow pencils; they feel good in our hands, we remember how to hold them, and we always know which end is the eraser.

The tools we have to communicate with one another are like the supplies in an artist’s tool box. Knowing when to pick up the right one can mean the difference between a masterpiece and the grayest sunset ever.

I’m not claiming to be Rembrandt, but here’s my attempt at organizing the toolbox most of us bring to work each day:



E-Mail
Best features: It’s familiar, comfortable, and everyone uses it. It’s the #2 pencil of communications tools.

Drawbacks: Everyone uses it. Inbox overload is a common problem. Reply-All volleyball matches and unwieldy file attachments are excruciating.

What it’s best for: The two paragraph conversation. Direct requests for action or information. Urgent announcements.

When it doesn’t work: Discussions with large groups, very short messages (consider using instant messenger instead), sensitive topics or contentious debates (just pick up the phone, already!)

Tips for using it well: Be brief, but not curt. Start with a short greeting, and make your request or call to action clear. Close with a word of thanks. The key to using email well is to know when not to use it: If your message is more than three paragraphs long or takes more than 20 minutes to write, set up a meeting instead. If your topic is sensitive and you’re at all concerned about how the other person will react, pick up the phone or talk in person. If your file attachment is bigger than 1 MB, post the document on a file-sharing site and email your audience the link instead. If you’re hoping for a lively back-and-forth conversation with a group, use an online discussion forum.



Instant Messenger
Best features: You can get someone’s attention immediately. The conversation doesn’t linger afterward and clog your inbox. It’s easy to use and you can tell whether someone is available, busy, or offline. You can send file attachments or screenshots.

Drawbacks: Flashing messages can trigger anxiety if you’re busy or get too many at once.

What it’s best for: The two-sentence conversation: Little nuggets of info, quick questions with easy answers.

When it doesn’t work: Long, complex conversations. Requests that require research, follow-up, or a record of the conversation. Discussions with more than 3-4 people.

Tips for using it well: Start conversations with a friendly greeting. If you’re making a request of someone, ask if they have a moment to chat. Set your own status to “In a Meeting” or “Do Not Disturb” or sign out altogether if you are unavailable.


Meetings
Best features: Face to face (or voice to voice) contact strengthens communication with body language, vocal inflection, and full attention (or so we hope).


Drawbacks: Costly, in terms of time - a 1-hour meeting with 20 people costs the bank 20 hours of productivity. In large meetings, more vocal/extraverted participants tend to dominate the conversation.

What it’s best for: Brainstorming with small groups (fewer than 10), making big/high-level announcements to larger groups, team building and camaraderie

When it doesn’t work: Decision making and brainstorming with large groups, presenting detailed information to large groups

Tips for using it well: Keep your meeting small and ask yourself if it’s the best use of everyone’s time. If you’re including more than 10 attendees, consider using a blog (to give news updates) or a discussion forum (to brainstorm or make a decision) instead of or in addition to your meeting. Check out some of my tips for making the most of offsite meetings and conference calls.


Online Discussion Forum
Best features: Enables many:many conversation, where multiple participants can post messages, read, and reply to one another. More effective than meetings at giving everyone a voice, especially introverts.

Drawbacks: Newer technology, has a learning curve. People often need to be reminded to participate (email helps). Depending on your company's available technology, creating a forum or community with all of your participants may require extra effort.

What it’s best for: Brainstorming and problem-solving with groups of 5 or more. Socializing and team building with a geographically diverse group. Crowdsourcing – posing a question to a large group without knowing exactly who will have the answer.

When it doesn’t work: Quick decisions or strong declarations – If you open yourself up to everyone’s input, be prepared to receive and listen to it.

Tips for using it well: Follow the same rules of politeness that you would in a meeting. Don't try to rein in the conversation if it veers slightly off-topic; the magic of this medium is its openness.



Blog
Best features: Easy online publishing, supports sharing of photos and videos, allows user comments, reach an interested audience without imposing on people’s time or inbox space.

Drawbacks: Learning curve. Depending on where you post it, your blog may attract readers outside of your intended audience.

What it’s best for: Project updates, leadership messaging, knowledge sharing, an elegant alternative to meetings and emails

When it doesn’t work: Urgent messages – Since blogging is a “pull” communication method, your readers may not find you right away unless you email them.

Tips for using it well:  The next time you're getting ready to send a mass email to your team, copy/paste the message into a blog instead, and email your team the link. See how they respond.

On tools and tools: A theory

Home improvement is not my forte. This weekend, I moved into a new house, and I wanted to try some little projects - assemble some particle board furniture, maybe hang a shelf or two. It was simple stuff that felt inspiringly doable.

I called my friend Becky and asked if I could borrow some tools.

"What do you need?" Becky asked.

I ran through my mental toolbox, which is very small.

"A screwdriver and a hammer," I responded. Familiar, easy to hold, easy to picture.

"If you're hanging stuff, you might want a cordless drill, a level, a tape measure, and..."

I stopped her. "No. Please, no."


Some people approach technology the way I approach home improvement - cautiously, fearfully, and eagerly reaching for the one or two tools that we can comfortably hold. It's not that we aren't smart or capable of using additional tools - but we're not quite ready for that learning period, that time of tension when the tool feels foreign and awkward. I know exactly how much damage I can cause with a screwdriver; a cordless drill in my unaccustomed hands might unleash an unstoppable (and portable!) torrent of destruction.

New and additional tools also make it more difficult to blame our shortfalls on a lack of proper tools. For example, I knew that if I borrowed Becky's level, I would have no excuse when my shelves were hung at an unfortunate angle. The blame would rest solely on my shoulders, because I had a level and either chose not to use it or (perhaps worse) used it improperly. In a world with no level, I could shrug off the crooked shelf and say I did the best I could, with the limited tools I had. Likewise, an employee without access to a good content management system can easily blame the lack of tools for the disorganized mess of files on his or her desktop.

So, how do we move past this mental model? How do we present an array of tools to our users and have them deftly and confidently select the right one, do the task at hand, and excitedly check out the shiny new tools we're working on?

* Teach people about their tools. Make sure the learning is customizable and reaches the audience at the appropriate level. A prolific social media user will not need a primer on the differences between Twitter and FaceBook. A newbie might need an explanation, a demo, a hands-on experience, and a cheat sheet for quick reference.
* Make expectations abundantly clear. If you want people to use e-mail for certain types of conversations, instant message for others, and make phone calls for other situations - explicitly say so. Offer usage guidelines and concrete examples. Don't expect everyone to walk in with a finely honed sense of netiquette.
* Give feedback. You tried teaching, but some people just didn't get it. Maybe they send giant, texty e-mail missives without a single paragraph break. Perhaps they use the reply-all feature when it's just not appropriate. Or maybe their writing is so rife with acronyms that it reads like a 13-year-old's text message. If you have the skill and eye to identify these faux-pas, embrace it. Pass on the gift in the form of constructive, timely feedback directly to the person who made the error. If you had spinach in your teeth, wouldn't you hope somebody would tell you? Extend this courtesy to your colleagues.
* Make it safe to fail. Take it a step further and embrace failures. Learn from them. Celebrate them. Praise people for their contributions to the organization's learning. This is good advice all around, but it's especially important when people are trying out new tools and getting past the discomfort of holding something new and unwieldy in their hands.

Now if someone could convince my landlord of that last one, I'd like to get my hands on a power drill.