実践ビジネス英語 Friday, February 1
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Going Email-Free (6)
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1[S]: Now, in our current vignette, Steve Lyons describes how he deliberately left his smartphone in his hotel room during a recent vacation. He did this so he couldn't constantly check his email during the day. An endeavor he says was, quote, almost as tough as giving up smoking, unquote. It would probably be just as hard for you, wouldn't it, Heather?
2[H]: True. I am pretty addicted to my smartphone. I've accidentally left my smartphone at home a few times, and each time it put a real crimp in my day.
I found myself constantly reaching for it in my purse for one reason or
another, and getting irritated because it wasn't there.
Not only could I not check my email or call people whenever I wanted, I couldn't use my e-book app, which lets me choose from dozens of books to read, or browse through the several newspaper apps that keep me up to date on world news.
On top of that, I couldn't play any of the games I have on my smartphone, access social media networks or use the map function to locate restaurants or stores. It really is amazing what an integral part of my life it's become.
3[S]: Lyons goes on to say that after his vacation, he decided to go email-free on the weekends. Is that something you think you could try?
4[H]: I have to admit that would probably be difficult for me. Like a great
many people, email and text messaging have largely replaced telephone calls
in my daily routine. They are generally what my friends, family and
colleagues and I use to set up appointments and ask each other questions. So
I'd probably leave people hanging if I went two whole days without answering
my phone, as it were.
Also at the moment, my weekends are Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Those are the days I have off. But most other people are working and likely to send messages so I can't vanish on those days. I do try not to check my mail constantly, though, on any day. And certainly not when I'm interacting with other people.
5[S]: The vignette eventually turns to the H&B staff's various rules for using email, including reading emails aloud to make sure they express what we want them to.
6[H]: I do that all the time. It's interesting how the simple act of reading an email aloud can let us know when a certain expression is too aggressive or too casual, for example. Just looking at it often doesn't have the same effect. And I definitely agree with the no text-speak rule.
I'm not a big fan of it overall and it really surprises me that people would use text-speak in a business context. If nothing else, doesn't that run the risk of appearing childish, which is definitely not how we want to appear in front of people who could praise us to a superior or recommend us for a job someday?
7[S]: Lyons also recommends not sending the same email multiple times if you don't get a reply. Instead, we should send a different email or call the person, he says.
8[H]: And I'd recommend taking our time with those measures as well. Email is so quick and simple to use that it's drastically reduced our patience for getting a reply. We've come to expect near-immediate responses. So if I find myself thinking, "Hmm... I haven't heard back from Mr. X,"my personal rule is to wait another 24 hours, if I can, before contacting that person again.
I've been amazed that how often the reply ended up arriving within those 24 hours. It's probably because people have similar senses of time. And Mr. X likely thinks around the same time, "Oh, I haven't gotten back to Heather yet. I better do that now." It really has proved to be an excellent rule, one that saved me from appearing too anxious or pushy on many occasions.
