Let's Pick up the Phone!

Okay, I'm on a bit of a rant today. I think it started with the horribly stinky feet smell in the gym at lunch. The smell near the cardio equipment was so intolerable; I nearly gagged out loud and ended my workout early. With running being off limits as per the doc, I quelled my gag reflex and continued on the X-trainer in the quest for a little sweat.

However, the negative olfactory incident was the apparent impetus for more objectionable experiences for the remainder of the afternoon. I will refrain from providing an inventory of all my pet peeves but I will just mention one that reached a breaking point for me today: overuse of email carbon copy!! I call over users of “carbon” copying: cc happy. I don’t know if the motivation is to remove responsibility or to keep people informed but I do believe that too many of us hit “reply all” without really thinking about whether we need to send that email to 20 people. However, some believe that if you are not cc happy, you are not being transparent! Come on…we already get more than enough email to respond to in a timely manner.

On another note, if you can avoid sending 10 emails back and forth (and to 20 people 10 times), pick up the phone. One conversation can clarify a lot especially when there may be underlying tension in the email exchange. Why so reluctant to pick up the phone or walk to the next cubicle? Please, let’s bring humanity back into our offices before I go nut bar……..

Okay, I’m off to check my email…..no more rants tomorrow……..