

The Professional Coworker - mcrittenden
http://mikecr.it/ramblings/the-professional-coworker

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lsiebert
First I like a lot of this article. Thinking about one's role in the community
of the company, and the responsibilites product, is important and valiable.

That said:

Maybe it's nitpicking, but responding to every IM or email in an hour or less?

If communication is key, it's much better to set up clear times when you are
available for talking then to respond quickly to emails, at least for things
that don't require repeated interactions. One might also up expectations for
urgent replies that can interrupt you, but you will have communicated
expectations. You can have a give and take with the above, but in general, you
will respond more effectively if you chunk your reading and sending e-mail.

Then, absolutely be available at the set times, and respond to messages during
them.

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mcrittenden
OP here. I sincerely don't understand why it's difficult for some people to
respond within the hour.

Even if you just set aside 5 minutes per hour to respond to whatever came in
in the last hour, that's still vastly more helpful to your coworkers than
boxing out specific areas of your day where you will respond and expecting
them to be attentive to that.

Where's the reluctance? Honest question.

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lsiebert
hmm... thought I replied from mobile, but I guess it failed to post.

I guess it's because I find it hard to focus, or rather to shift focus. I'd
much rather chunk my time (and get economies of scale), rather then shift
between two discrete tasks.

They don't have to be attentive. Heck, they can put URGENT in an email, and I
can make my computer beep the moment that comes in. But most e-mails can wait.

