With people being more accessible than ever today, it is also definitely more important than ever to set up boundaries for communication, particularly in the workplace. When employees, clients, media, marketing reps and others (not to mention family & friends) can reach you on emails, text, Facebook messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, iMessage, and, of course, the phone call – accessibility becomes stressful. Each means of communication has perks and downfalls, and we think there needs to be rules laid out for each!
Phone Call: Ah, the trusty phone call. You get to hear the excitement (or disappointment) in the person’s voice. Other than meeting someone face to face it is the most personal of all communications, and scheduled, a phone call can be the most efficient form of communication. But sometimes, an unscheduled phone call can interrupt the work flow of the day. In order to not be rude, you give your attention to the person on the phone, but that can take attention away from something you were working on. Once set off track, it can be hard to go right back to work. We are often on phone calls throughout the day with media and with clients so we truly appreciate when someone schedules a call instead of just giving us a ring. It works well for everyone!
Messages/iMessage/WhatsApp: These are probably the most accepted form of communication these days. People use text messages to share short notes, directions, love letters, apologies, check ins and everything in between. It’s an efficient way to let someone know both what you want for dinner, and that you are late for said dinner. It is also a plus (and sometimes a negative…) that the receiver has the option to answer at their leisure. While there is little pressure when it comes to texting or messaging apps, you don’t hear someone’s tone which can sometimes cause confusion and even arguments. Also, the lack of pressure to answer the messages can lead to forgetting a message or, even worse, the ever confusing ghosting! We LOVE WhatsApp for communication with our international clients and file transfers and use it consistently with clients.
Social Media: Social Media iis probably the easiest form of communication today. All you need is someone’s name and you can “slide into their DM’s”. Most forms of social media make it easy to share media, news articles, thoughts, etc, and hey, if you have a ground-breaking thought, you are one step away from sharing it with the world. There’s almost no formality to social media. Messages can come and go without introductions. Here at Mugsy we try to keep social media just that – social. We use it within our group to share fun items and news links for client pages, but we do not use social as a way for clients to reach us. Too much information gets lost when there are too many forms of communication!
Which brings us to…
Email: At Mugsy this is the #1 way to get in touch with us. One email goes to the entire team and someone will quickly get to it – IF the email needs a quick response. We LOVE when people use email to reach us. Overall it is probably the only form of communication that you can use 24/7 without disrupting the receiver. It is nowadays acceptable for all forms of communication. Long lost friends? Email is perfect! Short work blurbs? Email them. Idea in the middle of the night but don’t want to wake a friend? Email! It’s always acceptable, but it’s also the least personal of all. Email, in the psyche, is still closely related to work.
Of all forms of communication at Mugsy, we prefer email above all. It keeps files in one spot, everything is in writing so miscommunications don’t happen as often. Sometimes it can feel like an invasion of time off when we get texts, Whatsapp and messages come through on our phones early in the morning or late at night, but we NEVER mind an off hours email! And hey – if we’re up and working we may even write you back too!
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