A reader writes:
I work in municipal authorities, and infrequently we get requests that we’d like to say “no” to. In this case, a constituent requested for a bus cease exterior of her constructing. This wouldn’t be unreasonable, besides there is no bus route on the road in query. This sort of confusion occurs typically, so I shortly (inside 10 minutes of receiving the preliminary email) responded with a notice saying why a bus cease isn’t doable and pointed them to the closest bus route. Their reply indicated that they felt my response was impolite and dismissive.
I’ve most likely written higher responses to this sort of query earlier than, however I’m curious if the pace of my reply was a part of the difficulty. While my reply wouldn’t have modified considerably, I ponder if ready 24 hours to reply would have made it look like we had a minimum of thought of their request. This contrasts with offering excellent news, the place a fast response makes it look like we had been already on prime of the difficulty and offering nice service.
Are there any finest practices round response instances for bad information vs. excellent news? Should I exploit my “schedule send” button extra typically when dealing out bad information?
Ooooh, attention-grabbing query!
I do assume there are occasions when a very fast response could make the recipient really feel such as you didn’t put any actual thought or effort into the response. I don’t know if this was one in all them — it’s doable that it was your email wording that got here throughout as brusque or dismissive, or that this particular person is merely unreasonable — however I do assume it’s value enthusiastic about what indicators may be despatched by very fast responses in some conditions.
For instance, I can typically inform in 15 seconds that I’m not going to transfer a job applicant ahead to an interview. But if I occur to be purposes proper after they despatched theirs in, I’m not going to ship that rejection on the spot — as a result of a ton of individuals really feel stung in the event that they get a job rejection solely minutes after making use of. Whether or not that’s cheap isn’t the purpose; the purpose is that heaps of individuals will really feel like, “Wow, I’m so terrible that it only took you five minutes to reject me” or “You obviously didn’t even look at my application.” People may know in concept that preliminary resume screens are quick, however that sort of timeline can nonetheless sting.
Similarly, for those who put a lot of time into fastidiously crafting an email to your boss requesting one thing and actually agonized over your wording and strategy, listening to “no” simply a couple of minutes later may really feel such as you received much less consideration than if a little extra time had handed.
To be clear, I’m undoubtedly not suggesting that you simply delay responses that would have any diploma of time-sensitivity! When somebody wants a fast reply or a mission might be on maintain till you reply, synthetic delays could be counterproductive. But different instances, the phantasm of “I gave this plenty of consideration” is a social nicety that helps finesse some interactions.
I do assume you’re proper that these instances are extra doubtless to be if you’re delivering bad information than good (individuals don’t often complain about receiving excellent news too shortly). And sure, the “schedule send” button is actually useful right here — I exploit it liberally myself, and infrequently for precisely this motive.
