The Sushi-Line Solution to Why No One Responds to Your Emails
The way front-line IT professionals interact with their business peers matters. If you ever need proof, just reread the following story, courtesy of my colleague:
“Last night I was in line to eat at one of those sushi joints that seats about ten people at a time and necessitates an hour wait to snag one of their tables. As I stood there, a pair of coworkers waiting behind me started talking about the issues they were having with one of their IT guys.
Coworker 1 pulled out her phone to show Coworker 2 the latest epic-length email she received from her IT guy. The email was three pages long, completely unfocused, and filled with technical jargon. Coworker 2 skimmed through it and all she could say was “Oh my god….””
Before you think these were just two “mean girls” poking fun at the techie, I want to point out that they never said a bad word about the IT guy. Throughout their conversation they were actually being very nice and accommodating.
“Coworker 1 just thought it was ridiculous that she kept receiving these emails and that she spent so much of her time at work trying to decipher what IT was trying to tell her. She told her coworker she always had to reread his long emails five times to understand what they were saying, and she always had to send a bulleted response to the IT guy to make sure they were on the same page. In her words, “It’s like I’m part of IT.””
This particular email wasn’t even about anything too complicated. It was about buying some new cables. But she was confused because she was used to calling these cables Ethernet cables, and he kept referring to them as networking cables, and she had no clue whether they were talking about the same thing. Her solution?
“She just wanted the IT guy to send her either a link to what he wanted her to buy, or even just a picture of what it was, so she knew she was getting the right stuff for him.””
In this case, these coworkers took IT’s communication mishaps with good humor. But more often, all these little friction-filled interactions add up and contribute to the often-strained relationship between IT and the business.
Thankfully we can pull a few “best practices” from this exchange that any frontline IT professional can implement to smooth over the many small interactions they have with their coworkers on a daily basis.
- 1. Keep emails short.
- 2. Frame your emails with bullet points and action items: So your business peers don’t have to do it for you.
- 3. Establish a common language about the technology you share.
- 4. Sharing a link is always the best way to request an item. It eliminates any confusion, and it turns your request into a simple “click & buy.” Even if the item needs to be purchased at a store, your business peer will at least be able to bring with them a listing of the exact item you require.
