this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2023
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I've got one engineer, only one in the two teams of like ten each that I work with, who doesn't understand the concept of sending out a short email or IM to ask, "Hey, I'd like to give you a call about XYZ. When would be a good time for you?"
I mean, email is by far the best. It doesn't demand real time attention and ALSO gives a body of text and attachments to refer back to whenever.
IM also offers these but not as easily organized and searchable.
Phone is worst: there's no lasting record, no attachments, and you have to drop what you're doing to participate.
Most of my team realizes these things and prefers email. There are a few who still rely on calls but they at least set up a time for calls.
Only this one guy (a young guy too) thinks it's perfectly acceptable to call without any announcement or warning, then take up 30-90 minutes of your time with a call to convey information that could have been in a short email or taken care of in literally 5-10 minutes.
He always wants to chat about random shit before getting to the point, then give you a bunch of extra info you don't even need.
Thus, I've started just ignoring his calls when it's not a good time for me.
If he feels it's okay to just randomly interrupt, I feel I'm just as justified in refusing to allow said interruption.
My boss sometimes calls my personal cell. But only to get my attention on a thing that needs attention, or something I need to know right then. I always answer because I know it's important, never bullshit. And that's how it should be. Also, he takes action when needed, never lets anything sit and fester.
He moves fast and expects his team to do the same, when need be. Fair enough. We also have fewer meetings than any other department. Because we move. I can sit on my ass all day (read: nap), but when it's time to move, I move. Love the guy. When I started working for him last month, "I do not micromanage my people. If you find yourself being micromanaged, I'm already looking for your replacement." Getting my feet back on the ground after being micromanaged for 4-years. :)
Kinda disagree on email communications. We use Slack effectively. Mostly. Problem is, many of us, me included, allow it to distract us. People tend to expect instant response from a DM. I don't check email often, and I'm sure that annoys some people. But you're 100% right on tracking the conversation. OTOH, you can track conversations in Slack almost as well. Email for external customers. DMs for internal. Works for me.
Learning to turn Slack off for a period of time, or block my calendar. Boss encourages this! "HR wants our personal reviews in this week. Block out an hour or three on your calendar and do it."
Was on a team trying to kick this around, figure out some kinda policy. Never really got agreement or traction. Seems it boils down to social skills. I know the VP isn't approving my purchases until early evening. Gotta poke her if I need action. I know $manager isn't looking at his DMs, but he is looking at group channels. I know $dev is not going to answer me for a day if I Slack him.
All over the place on this post. Guess we just have to learn how we each work, roll with it. ๐คท๐ปโโ๏ธ