L. Stephen Pastor, of Hill Wallack, LLP, offers guidance on how often to answer work calls. This article appeared in the April issue of New Jersey Lawyer under the Practice Tips section.
For several years early in my career I would often delay returning a call until I finished whatever projects I was working on so when I did speak with the client, I could say the task was completed. However, the delay in returning calls and the number of calls to return caused stress to me and my clients.
Then one day I had a moment of clarity, which decreased my stress and made my clients much happier. I did three things:
1. I change my voice mail every day to reflect that day’s schedule.
2. I provided my direct dial number to my clients (who no longer needed to go through the receptionist, then my secretary, before getting through to me).
3. I started answering the phone whenever I was sitting at my desk.
Changing voice mail every day is helpful. For example, my message may say I have an out-of-office meeting at 2:00 and will not return until the following day. This way, a client will know that I am not available until the next day versus assuming I am intentionally not being responsive.
Providing my direct dial number and answering calls if I am at my desk helps in many ways. My clients now understand that if I do not answer a call that I really am not available (and my voice email gives them my schedule so they generally know when I may be able to return the call). As most calls are just a few minutes long, these calls do not cause a significant delay on any projects or tasks I am working on. If a call will take longer than I then have, we can easily schedule a time when I can focus my attention on the call. Fewer calls to return. Clients updated and happy.
Now for the best part. I let my clients know weeks and sometimes months in advance of my out-of-office schedule, when I will not be answering the phone (including my cell phone) or checking emails. For several years this was easy, as I would travel out west to remote areas to fly fish and generally had no cell phone reception, so I couldn’t answer a call or check an email even if I wanted to. Unfortunately, finding such remote areas is harder these days, but now I just leave my cell phone on airplane mode. And having no calls or emails to check is a great way to completely de-stress. For the first few years it took a few days to get used to being disconnected. Now, as soon as I am on the plane I am disconnected, and the feeling is wonderful. My clients understand that I will be “out of service” for a week or so. The result? In a typical workday I get 100+/- e-mails and 20+/- calls. Now during a vacation week, I’ll have just 10-20 emails and maybe 10 calls to catch up on.
So, answering the phone allows me to not answer the phone.