Instant Communication: When ASAP Isn’t Soon Enough

LAF Note: This guest post was written by Mike Schaffer.

It’s 3am and all is peaceful through the house.
Your computer is in sleep mode, so’s your keyboard and your mouse.
Your Blackberry dings, the red light glows, rattling your inbox.
At this time of night, you’re sleeping, dreaming of bagels, cream cheese and lox (Just me?).
But a true PR Pro you are, working 24/7.
You sleepily reach across, grab your phone and see a client beckon!
The question isn’t pressing, nothing to answer here and now.
You delay until the sun is up, and you hear a client GROWL!

We live in an on-demand society. Our favorite TV shows are on when WE want to watch them. We can literally bring our email with us to the bathroom (oh, don’t act all high and mighty…you do it, too!). We have to be reminded to turn off our cell phones before movies. Every time.

Going back to the poem, was it reasonable to expect that 3am e-mail returned instantly? Heck, is 3am even a billable hour? (Full disclosure – my company doesn’t bill by the hour, but it makes for a snappy line, right?)

Last week on this site, Chevis English asked about the ability to disconnect from work. This, though, is the cost of disconnection: stuff happens and if you aren’t there to answer immediately, your client goes unserved.

With a virtual IV dripping information constantly into our brains, have we become desensitized to the human component? Have we forgotten that while machines may work instantly, the homo sapiens species is only capable of so much?

When it comes to response time, is ASAP no longer good enough?

Mike Schaffer (@mikeschaffer) is the Director of Social Media for Brotman-Winter-Fried Communications in Washington, DC. You can read his blog at http://thebuzzbymikeschaffer.wordpress.com. You can try reaching him in the middle of the night, but if you don’t get a response until 10am, it’s not you, it’s him.

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GoKTGo

Man, I just wanted to add a comment to this because a friend of mine just sent me a text saying that the law firm she works at just sent them all an e-mail saying that they must keep their blackberries on them at all times and respond within a half hour - EVEN IF THEY ARE ASLEEP!

I think how wired we are is getting out of hand...

I'll be the first to admit that I can't go anywhere with my mobile phone/being connected but that's not right for everyone...I think it's crazy that people can require that of you!

just sayin' :)
Aurora Tyler

I agree with the previous comments and have also found that NOW is not quick enough. It's fine line to walk and I'm striving to find that balance myself.

I'm wondering, Mike, how you responded to the "growl" (and how they reacted) and if you intend to set stronger boundaries in the future.
Mike Schaffer

Thank you so much for reading and commenting, Aurora!

This post isn't about one particular incident, but about the larger concept. But when there is a "growl" situation, the best solution is to hustle to get the job done--and done well.

Nothing would compound that problem more than sloppy work!
Keith Trivitt

I think there are two different aspects of instant communication: The first is recognizing the client's concern, question or complain. That requires a simple "Thanks for the question/concern/comment XXX. I received your note, and I will get back to you in the morning (or afternoon/evening) with a response. The second is actually finding a solution to handle that response.

The downside to instant communications is that clients often don't realize that a solution takes far longer than just saying "I got your message." We are strategists and counselors in the PR profession (Laura knows about my propensity for adopting the the "We are counselors" mantra ...), and as such, much of our work centers around researching and developing appropriate strategies for certain situations. Certainly, we need to be able to think on our feet and quickly come up with responses and strategies with the situation warrants, but at 3 a.m.? Unless your company just got bought out by an entire country, or something catastrophic happened, most things can be taken care of at a better hour.

On the other hand, we do now all live in a global economy, so the notion of "it's 3 in the morning!" doesn't really work as well, when it's 8 a.m. in London. So this is a bit of a sticky wicked. I agree with Laura that expectations need to be hammered out early on as to these matters, and at the same time, clients need to keep reality in check when it comes to what kind of response THEIR audience is going to expect. If your company's key audiences expect an immediate response, then we should most likely be able to provide that response - even if it is at an ugly time of 3 a.m.

@KeithTrivitt
Mike Schaffer

Awesome points, Keith--as always!

I think you are on-point with saying that a simple "Got it...workin' on it!" doesn't solve the issue, but could make the client feel loved/important.

The global economy issue is huge. Yes, Jimmy Buffet may argue that it means "it's 5 o'clock somewhere," but that also means its 9am somewhere and those people are busting their behinds at work. It's something we HAVE to respect - just as they should respect that their work time is someone else's sleep time.
Bethany Grabher

I think we create a slippery slope by not defining boundaries. If you help a client after hours a few times, it's easy for your availability to become an expectation (Of course, cleaning up disasters and responding to emergencies is a different story). I think that we can be so eager to help, and carry the fear that we might miss something, that we bend boundaries and allow our time to become compromised. Maybe we need to suppress our urge to answer right away. Easier said than done!
Mike Schaffer

Thanks for reading, Bethany!

You raise a great point that being too accessible only creates more opportunity for us to be too accessible.

Is there a good way to create a sense of balance? Can we work it FAIRLY on a case-by-case basis? Definitely good food for thought!
laurenfernandez

I think most clients would understand - especially if expectations were clarified from the get-go. Maybe their evaluation of important is different, and you need to know what their standards are. On the other hand, if the expectation was explained, one has to be willing to admit the mistake right away so everyone can move on. Come to the table with a solution on how to work more efficiently moving forward.
Mike Schaffer

Lauren--

Thanks for giving me the forum to be a poet :) Yes, client expectations--across the spectrum--are important to manage. From accessibility, reports, success rate...where there is an understanding, there is no misunderstanding.
Nicole VanScoten

Good post, Mike! That's the problem with technology - we are expected to be available 24/7...especially when a client needs us! However, I think sometimes clients need to step back and realize that we ARE human. We do NEED to sleep...so I don't think there's anything wrong with you waiting until 9am to answer the question. However, you may need to find a way to let the client know (gently) so you don't risk having this happen all the time.
Mike Schaffer

Many thanks, Nicole!

After this post went up, I was on the road in meetings for about 7 straight hours. No matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't respond to comments here until just now. Even with terrific technology, I wasn't available. I hope nobody thinks I was ignoring them because I was forced to disconnect for a while...
Ivette

I wish ASAP was acceptable, but more and more I feel like ASAP is almost always too late. People want everything "yesterday" and I agree with you that as humans we need to sleep and disconnect, but it's hard to do that with smart phones and the little red light that calls my name.
Mike Schaffer

Thanks, Ivette...yes, that blinking red light is quite a siren, isn't it?

Vacation, sleep, relaxation...all very important, especially in a hyper-connected world!