Be like Phil, Be cool.

I am what they call a “Millennial” so according to research I expect a VERY quick response (in 1 hour) on emails, 39% of us do according to the statistics. Gen Z's expect this too - 45% of them apparently!

I don’t expect a response in 1 hour I really don’t I promise, not even in 48 hours, but I do expect some sort of response within a reasonable time period (is ever a time period? 1 hour, 24 hours, 48 hours, ever - ok now it is) I am not fussy, I’ll take a thumbs up or an “ok” or even fling me over one of these "noted"

So yes to sum it up, I do find it rude to ignore emails when someone has taken the time to draft it.

I remember the “good old days” when we had pen pals – do you remember those?

Dear Phil,

Thank you so much for writing, it is so wonderful to hear from you! The summer holidays have been fab, and we went to a theme park and I have never been so scared in all my life!

What did you do? Can’t wait to hear your news!

Always, Your Pen Pal Barbara!!

And finally after three long weeks, the post man has arrived with the reply to Barbs letter ( Barbs is thrilled, she quite likes Phil!!!)

Hi Barbara,

Noted.

Always, Your Pen Pal Phil

 …….you can write the rest of the story.

So, is it ruder to NOT reply or to reply with an unenthusiastic response? I am going to say that today, the answer is just acknowledge please. We are all busy, its not a competition, we are running around doing our own jobs and often when we send an email there is a dependency on the other persons job or activities or perhaps even an action out of it.

"We shouldn’t be the blocker, we should be the collaborator" (Can someone please make that into a rap song, it is calling out for it!!)

Key take away: Be cool guys, be like Phil and reply, even if Phil clearly isn’t too fond of Barbs. Poor Barbs.

Oh, and before you ask, we all have full inboxes that are overflowing like the love you have for my articles on LinkedIn, manage them, there are apps and hacks for that!