4. Ineffective
Missed calls result in phone tag, a supremely idiotic and unnecessary game in an age of bountiful communication alternatives.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, is an emoji worth 500? Texting is effective and efficient. Ninety percent of all SMS text messages are read within three minutes.
5. Time-consuming
The time costs of a "quick five-minute call" can exceed 20 minutes, including the salutations, pleasantries, small talk, goodbyes, and time it takes to refocus on the original task, which, some experts say, can take 23 minutes after a disruption.
Texting limits unnecessary salutations and the exchange of irrelevant information, and the time cost can be as low as a few seconds.
After a recent keynote presentation I delivered on the topic of communicating to Millennials, I was approached by an audience member who was anxious to share his experience of communicating with them.
The gentleman was a manager of a team of Millennials, and he described his initial frustration with his team not answering his phone calls. Rather than demanding the team cater to his communication preference, he decided to test texting. "Much more productive," he said.
The gentleman now texts his Millennial team every afternoon before his commute home. In the message, he provides the necessary correction or direction his team needs to be efficient and effective. "After my texts, it surprises me how often I find my team that evening back online eagerly working," he proudly told me.
Is a phone call still valuable? Of course. A phone call can still be necessary, welcomed, and in some instances, productive. The tone or urgency that can be conveyed in a human voice remains powerful, but if you're interested in elevating the productivity of your Millennial work force, consider a text.
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