Fighting out-of-control calls to free up time

It happened with email. Then WhatsApp and other messaging systems landed on mobile phones. Today, to raise the bar even higher, the jubilation of calls that allow anyone to organise meetings in a 'smart' way, or in any 'whenve': basically at any time and place on the planet where you can be found, including the car, the supermarket, and the dentist's bed (which I mention because a manager once connected between fillings, I swear).

From spam in the mailbox, it is as if we ourselves had become spam: clogging up calendars with invitations of calls that we have to attend because, citing the most popular motives after an informal survey:

"If the boss doesn't see me, there's trouble."

"If someone questions me I better be there."

"I don't understand what you are talking about, but just in case I need to intervene."

"I didn't understand what it's about, but... boh!"

And that's not all. Out-of-control calls often have a deadly ally: toxic availability, well described by one young manager: 'My problem is that I would like to say no to requests for calls and meetings, but I often come up against the fact that others are only making themselves available, and I would feel like I was the only person to turn down a single invitation'. A team in which everyone is available 24 hours a day is immersed in a corporate culture that is a slave to the dark side of availability.

How did it come to this?

From the perspective of the recent history of technology, we are facing the radioactive waste of the 'open mentality'. About fifteen years ago, when the first social media became popular, we all exclaimed: 'Finally we can share information, people have become media. Even in companies, we can connect at any time... Sharing is Caring!"

But before long, the famous open sharing has turned into open spamming. Instant connection has become a sprawling frenzy for its own sake.

Why do we organise and participate in too many calls with too many people? First of all, because... it can be done. And it is horrendously simple, at the touch of a fingertip.

To get out of it, there is no decalogue with the 10 life-saving rules at all times (although a few books professing them will certainly be in the pipeline).

There are, however, interesting reflections, which I have been experimenting with in recent months, and which could prove useful if handled with care.

They work on 3 levels: that of colleagues (and team), that of the boss, that of your business unit.

If the situation concerns some colleagues in particular, try to find the 'yellow/green codes disguised as red codes'. That is, interpret important or urgent communications and meetings for the colleague, who now sees everything as important because he is overwhelmed by habit and anxiety. Unmask urgency disguised as importance, and uselessness disguised as urgency. Confront each other and, if necessary, review the delegation spaces.

If the source is your manager, try to argue some 'no's' with solid reasons and calm firmness. One manager confided in me that after doing this, his boss initially got a bit annoyed, but eventually started to respect him more. Thanks to this new habit, the manager now has more time for the whole team, and is able to support younger colleagues: he can say many more yeses to them.

If any of you are thinking: "Sure, if I mention one no to my boss he tortures me!" Forgive me for being blunt, but perhaps your problem goes beyond videocalls.

Finally, if the situation concerns the business unit (or the entire corporate culture): try to redefine the care and concern for others' time.

Here, the first thing to do is to start with ourselves: if time has gone crazy in many companies, it is because we can all steal it from others. We all complain about the time they steal from us. But on many occasions, the first time thieves are ourselves.

Try to give back time to others with small, clear, visible and easily repeatable actions to redefine the context. As Malcolm Gladwell explains in his essay 'The Tipping Point', it is these small, everyday actions that often trigger change.

Any examples?

That call you are about to launch, can you review it in a short e-mail to a few people?

That e-mail with so many people in cc, does it really have to be sent to everyone?

That e-mail, that message, that voice mail, can I avoid sending it at the weekend?

How can I avoid encroaching on another person's time, or even freeing up their time?

Imagine being a Time Keeper, a special agent in your company with the mission to free up colleagues' time, relieving them of anxiety and stress.

What is your single liberating action for a single colleague? And in the future, what could you do differently?

I invite you to think about it. Good riddance to all of us.

* Partner & Head of Communication Newton Group