Don't be the Postman Manager
Ping – there is mail in your inbox… Mechanically click on it… “Hi Elango – can you please look into this – this is becoming an issue,” at the head of what seemed like a much-forwarded mail. Hmmm… that was very interesting. Reading further, I figured that it was an escalation email, with the sender ranting about the issue he was faced with. His exasperation with the endlessness of its resolution led him to write to me, as a final resort. At a glance, it read like a fairly easy task to resolve. I thought to myself: “Why has this reached me?” So I set aside what I was doing and scrolled down to what seemed like an endless "please fix" forwards. By the time I reached the end, it was clear that the sender missed a part and if he'd fixed it right in the beginning, the situation would never have reached where it did. I responded with what was missed, and he acknowledged the same and closed the task.
It didn't take a genius to figure that, and the issue was not with the sender. It was the way each person handed the task to the 'next available' one.
The mail had gone through 12 mailboxes. Except for the first three, all the others were one-liners like the one I received! The mail had taken all of three days to reach my Inbox through 12 Inboxes and three time zones!
The world tour could have been avoided if his immediate manager had bothered to read the mail properly and taken a few minutes to understand the problem.
This is not a stray incident – it happens in every organization that has email interaction. Hail the emergence of a new kind of manager: 'The Postman Manager'.
Those who are hunched over their laptops forwarding emails. Especially the ones with the smartphones – they are the biggest postman managers! A deft forward here, a push there, and a good day's work done. A big time waster, productivity sucker, and creator of an illusion that we are all busy doing work.
Can we stop it? Of course, we can. It starts with each one of us. Here is a quick guide to get out of the postman trap:
READ IT, DON'T SKIM THROUGH
Take a few minutes to read the email in full, not just the first two lines. Many times the answers are in the mail; it's just we haven't got to that.
DON'T BE QUICK GUN MURUGAN
Think before you reply or forward – you could be setting an unproductive, time-wasting chain in motion.
TEST THE VALUE YOU ADD
Ask yourself this question next time you receive a request for information, data, or whatever: What is your value? Are you going to be a mere postman, where you are better off directing the person to the relevant person rather than being the go-between? If you want to be the go-between, what is your value addition other than just hitting the forward button? If there's no value, step aside. Can we figure out if we can find other ways to add value? For if we don't, organizations will find ways of forwarding us into oblivion. And if you don't want that, ask yourself the following questions:
What do I do that my reportee cannot do? Are you spending more than 30% of your time on email? (If you don't know the answer, download an email plug-in like XOBNI. It will provide you with useful statistics.) How much time do I spend meeting my customers and employees, and doing work outside my Inbox? For unless you are an email support associate, your work is outside the Inbox in the real world.
The answer to that will help you understand if you are adding value or just playing postman!
Good luck, and forward this article furiously so that it reaches every working professional. And may that be the last forward you will ever do!
The writer is the Chief Human Resources Officer at MphasiS.
Regards,
Ilujlt
From India, Delhi
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1Ping – there is mail in your inbox… Mechanically click on it… “Hi Elango – can you please look into this – this is becoming an issue,” at the head of what seemed like a much-forwarded mail. Hmmm… that was very interesting. Reading further, I figured that it was an escalation email, with the sender ranting about the issue he was faced with. His exasperation with the endlessness of its resolution led him to write to me, as a final resort. At a glance, it read like a fairly easy task to resolve. I thought to myself: “Why has this reached me?” So I set aside what I was doing and scrolled down to what seemed like an endless "please fix" forwards. By the time I reached the end, it was clear that the sender missed a part and if he'd fixed it right in the beginning, the situation would never have reached where it did. I responded with what was missed, and he acknowledged the same and closed the task.
It didn't take a genius to figure that, and the issue was not with the sender. It was the way each person handed the task to the 'next available' one.
The mail had gone through 12 mailboxes. Except for the first three, all the others were one-liners like the one I received! The mail had taken all of three days to reach my Inbox through 12 Inboxes and three time zones!
The world tour could have been avoided if his immediate manager had bothered to read the mail properly and taken a few minutes to understand the problem.
This is not a stray incident – it happens in every organization that has email interaction. Hail the emergence of a new kind of manager: 'The Postman Manager'.
Those who are hunched over their laptops forwarding emails. Especially the ones with the smartphones – they are the biggest postman managers! A deft forward here, a push there, and a good day's work done. A big time waster, productivity sucker, and creator of an illusion that we are all busy doing work.
Can we stop it? Of course, we can. It starts with each one of us. Here is a quick guide to get out of the postman trap:
READ IT, DON'T SKIM THROUGH
Take a few minutes to read the email in full, not just the first two lines. Many times the answers are in the mail; it's just we haven't got to that.
DON'T BE QUICK GUN MURUGAN
Think before you reply or forward – you could be setting an unproductive, time-wasting chain in motion.
TEST THE VALUE YOU ADD
Ask yourself this question next time you receive a request for information, data, or whatever: What is your value? Are you going to be a mere postman, where you are better off directing the person to the relevant person rather than being the go-between? If you want to be the go-between, what is your value addition other than just hitting the forward button? If there's no value, step aside. Can we figure out if we can find other ways to add value? For if we don't, organizations will find ways of forwarding us into oblivion. And if you don't want that, ask yourself the following questions:
What do I do that my reportee cannot do? Are you spending more than 30% of your time on email? (If you don't know the answer, download an email plug-in like XOBNI. It will provide you with useful statistics.) How much time do I spend meeting my customers and employees, and doing work outside my Inbox? For unless you are an email support associate, your work is outside the Inbox in the real world.
The answer to that will help you understand if you are adding value or just playing postman!
Good luck, and forward this article furiously so that it reaches every working professional. And may that be the last forward you will ever do!
The writer is the Chief Human Resources Officer at MphasiS.
Regards,
Ilujlt
From India, Delhi
Acknowledge(1)Amend(0)
Dear Ilujlt,
You have written a long post expressing your anguish. However, my analysis of why it has happened is as follows:
a) The staff and managers are not trained in "Business Writing Skills."
b) Your company has not created standard templates for communication. This includes communication with vendors, service providers, or internal communication such as how juniors should communicate with seniors, and how seniors should communicate with juniors, etc.
c) Email communication has brought informality into our professional lives. This shift towards informality is affecting professionalism.
d) The immaturity of the managers is a factor. In the past, it used to take 8-10 years to become a manager. Now, managership is attained within 2-3 years. Mere acquisition of a designation does not equate to maturity.
e) Partly, your leadership is also responsible for what has happened. Why has your leadership allowed or fostered a culture like this? It seems that no formal methods were employed to shape the organization's culture. Instead, leadership has allowed the organization's culture to develop on its own, without deliberate efforts.
f) I had the opportunity to work in an MNC operating in 220 countries. What they did was standardize and ensure uniformity in communication worldwide.
g) The incident illustrates why soft skills training often fails. Soft skills training goes beyond games, trainer's body language, or delivery. Trainers should address topics like the ones you mentioned and base their discussions around them. To ensure success, training managers should conduct thorough research and provide real-life examples or case studies to prevent mistakes or repetitions in the workplace.
But we are all quite busy people, aren't we? Do we have time for standardization? Do we have time to shape the organization's culture, or for training managers to research what's happening in the workplace?
Anyway, my heartfelt thanks for sharing this incident. If at least one member learns from your post, then the purpose of writing it would be achieved.
Thanks,
Dinesh V Divekar
"Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance."
From India, Bangalore
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You have written a long post expressing your anguish. However, my analysis of why it has happened is as follows:
a) The staff and managers are not trained in "Business Writing Skills."
b) Your company has not created standard templates for communication. This includes communication with vendors, service providers, or internal communication such as how juniors should communicate with seniors, and how seniors should communicate with juniors, etc.
c) Email communication has brought informality into our professional lives. This shift towards informality is affecting professionalism.
d) The immaturity of the managers is a factor. In the past, it used to take 8-10 years to become a manager. Now, managership is attained within 2-3 years. Mere acquisition of a designation does not equate to maturity.
e) Partly, your leadership is also responsible for what has happened. Why has your leadership allowed or fostered a culture like this? It seems that no formal methods were employed to shape the organization's culture. Instead, leadership has allowed the organization's culture to develop on its own, without deliberate efforts.
f) I had the opportunity to work in an MNC operating in 220 countries. What they did was standardize and ensure uniformity in communication worldwide.
g) The incident illustrates why soft skills training often fails. Soft skills training goes beyond games, trainer's body language, or delivery. Trainers should address topics like the ones you mentioned and base their discussions around them. To ensure success, training managers should conduct thorough research and provide real-life examples or case studies to prevent mistakes or repetitions in the workplace.
But we are all quite busy people, aren't we? Do we have time for standardization? Do we have time to shape the organization's culture, or for training managers to research what's happening in the workplace?
Anyway, my heartfelt thanks for sharing this incident. If at least one member learns from your post, then the purpose of writing it would be achieved.
Thanks,
Dinesh V Divekar
"Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance."
From India, Bangalore
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I completely agree with the valid point made; however, there are employees who really do not want to take ownership at all and therefore keep on cascading the same.
In the world of the internet, even if a company has not trained for soft skills, there are several templates available on email etiquette, per se. However, more often it's the issue of will, not broadening one's horizon, and sticking to the same old orthodox means/writing standards.
I firmly believe that upon attaining a management position, one should strive to self-inculcate these traits.
From India, Pune
Acknowledge(0)Amend(0)
In the world of the internet, even if a company has not trained for soft skills, there are several templates available on email etiquette, per se. However, more often it's the issue of will, not broadening one's horizon, and sticking to the same old orthodox means/writing standards.
I firmly believe that upon attaining a management position, one should strive to self-inculcate these traits.
From India, Pune
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Soft skills training program.pdf