Second Cup: Respond even if you can't answer

Let people know you got the message

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is to respond to emails even if you can't
give an answer yet.

Speaker 2 (00:23):
People want to know that you.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
Have received their messages and will deal with them. Letting
them know that that is true can ultimately save you time.
Today's tip, like some others this week, comes from Laura
May Martin's new book Up Time. She works at Google
as the company's productivity guru, coaching executives to be more

(00:48):
efficient with their time. In her book, she notes that
the frequent productivity advice to check email just a few
times a day does not really work in a corporate environment.
Many people's jobs require them to see email more often
than that. Plus, no one likes collaborating with a person

(01:09):
who doesn't respond to email. Martin says, it's just frustrating,
and if you are working with someone non responsive, it
feels like they are putting their desires over the need
for the team to move along. And more importantly, she
writes a lot of inefficiencies in email come from people

(01:32):
checking back in or bumping up an email because they
haven't heard back from someone If you don't respond to
an email, it usually ensures you'll get another email now
If you don't respond to that. Another email is then
followed by an instant chat to get your attention, which

(01:53):
turns into a meeting added to your calendar. Probably it
would be better to answer the email in the first place.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Of course, you.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
Don't always know the answer to an email, or you
don't have time to deal.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
With it right now. That is fine. Even if you
can't answer, you can respond. Martin suggests several holding responses,
such as, Hey, I got your request and need to
think about it this week. I'll let you know next week,
or thanks for your email. I have time scheduled next

(02:31):
Tuesday to work on this, so I'll get back to
you Wednesday next week. And if you really aren't sure,
try Hi, this is on my radar, but I'm not
sure when I'll get to it. If you don't hear
from me in the next month or so, feel free
to follow back up. When you send emails like this,
you come across as responsive and helpful, and most likely

(02:56):
people will stop pinging you or trying to get time
on your calendar. As Martin notes, people just want to
be heard now. You don't have to respond to one
hundred percent of your email. I'm sure we all get
lots of spam, but actual colleagues requesting actual things is

(03:17):
a different matter. Being responsive even when you can't answer,
shows that you are a team player and will probably
save time overall. In the meantime. This is Laura.

Speaker 1 (03:33):
Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
our text. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've
got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at
Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a

(04:00):
production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit
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