What is the responsiveness hurdle #1?
I do not respond quickly to colleagues who outreach to me for help.
What can you do?
– Create a “first in, first out” log to ensure you get back to your colleagues faster and in the order of their outreaches to you.
– Respond quickly to your colleagues to let them know that you are working on his request and your anticipated day of completion. By setting expectations, you eliminate unnecessary follow-up emails and phone calls.
– Investigate if your e-mail management system allows you to color code emails from certain colleagues. This way, you can prioritize your responses.
Work to respond to voicemails and emails within twenty-four hours.
– Update your voice mail and email auto responder to reflect when you will be delayed in your response time. Upon realizing you are not available, some colleagues may seek their answer elsewhere, reducing your workload.
– Consider sending an email in response to a voicemail. While human interaction is always preferable, a quick acknowledgement is better than no acknowledgement.