When you’re on a phone call how often are you also on your computer – working on something completely unrelated to the phone call?
When you’re on a phone call how often do you notice the OTHER person working on something else?
How is that working out for your productivity for those phone calls?
Getting Work Done And Purple Monkeys
This phenomenon of “multi-tasking” has come up a LOT recently with my business calls (on both sides of the fence). I’ve started to notice the other person zoning out or focusing on something else too often and we both lose time.
So much so that (and this is only with friends or people I have enough rapport with to pull this off) when I notice someone just saying “Uh-huh” “Yeah, that sounds good” and not paying attention I would add a purple monkey to the middle of an intelligent sentence, it goes something like this:
(I say this): “So, I’ve been working on the project we’ve been talking about, and after talking to John about the marketing strategy a purple monkey attacked my cat this morning with a stuffed animal and then we decided to go with the first project instead. Does that sound good?”
(Often the other person says this): “Yeah, that sounds good…”
It’s funny in the moment but at the same time notsomuch…
Bring Respect Back To Your Phone Calls
To clarify here: I’m talking about business calls. You know, the ones you set up or that just happen because you both have something to talk about and results that need to happen after the conversation. Because a conversation is a two way street I started with myself. When I’m on a business call I turn my cell phone upside down and close my laptop. An amazing thing happens: The calls are more productive and often shorter since I don’t have to repeat things or ask for a third time what the other person said.
Have any of these ever happened to you?
- You’re on a call AND answering email at the same time. An upsetting email comes in and, after you read it, the news ruins your mood and concentration for your call.
- Your client is working on their computer while you’re talking. Because of this they miss an important point that you make about working with them and it creates a problem in the future.
- Someone gives you bad news on the phone or presents you with a problem they’re having and because you’re focused on something else you respond inappropriately with something like “That sounds good…”
The good news is all of those can be avoided, just…
Try It For A Day
For one day, just one day, give this a shot: Close your computer or turn on a screen saver when you’re on business calls. Focus on the other person and TELL THEM that you’ve stepped away from your computer because you want to be sure to give them all of your attention. Let them know you respect their valuable time.
Hopefully they will do the same. You can also ask them to do the same so you can both spend your time more productively.
Take notes on how this changes your day. Then decide if you want to try it again the next day and bring respect and responsibility back to your conversations…
