The truth I learned at work

Call me old-fashioned, but I actually like to phone people.  When there’s something important to say in business: I’m a ‘pick up the phone and just work it out’ kind of person. In my personal life – I’m all about the text message, but professionally – I call. There’s nothing worse than sending an awkward work email, then wondering how the person on the other end is interpreting it. I mean, who hasn’t re-read their own sent emails and thought, “Hmm, maybe I should’ve worded that differently…”

Maybe it’s because I need to be more efficient with my time these days. I’m running a business with clients across multiple time zones (which gets even trickier once daylight savings kicks in!) I’m  keeping my children alive and I’m trying to turn up at the odd school assembly, so everyone thinks I’ve got it together. When it comes to making decisions—or addressing tricky topics—I’ve learned it’s easier to just have the conversation, so the matter is dealt with. Then,  follow it up with an email if necessary, so there’s a record of what we agreed on. It frees my head to concentrate on the creative stuff.

So the big truth I’ve learnt over the years, seems pretty obvious now I think about it:

If you find yourself rewriting the email a number of times because you’re worried about how it might come across – it’s probably a phone call. Write some notes for yourself ahead of the call and know your objective. It might feel more stressful initially, but it’s so much less stressful in the long run. And will save a lot of time.

I come form a background in journalism, so I appreciate that for me, picking up the phone or knocking on a door is just what we do. But for many people in business, being able to communicate is an acquired skill. And if you’re a leader, you need it.