The Importance of Our Timely Responses

I wrote a short article two years ago about the importance of timeliness and responsiveness. I received a lot of appreciative feedback. Yet, the problem seems to be getting worse not better in a lot of businesses, nonprofits and even, sadly, in some churches and religious organizations. It may not mean the managers are bad people or are self-absorbed, it simply can be the crazy-busy world we live and work in.

In my leadership consulting and coaching work, I speak with literally hundreds of business people every year and I am compelled to write about this very important theme, as I hear it repeatedly.

• “My boss doesn’t get back to me.”
• “Our senior leaders seldom respond to us. It seems they take us for granted.”
• “We have to follow up, often repeatedly.”
• “I do not feel appreciated or valued as he does not return my calls or emails, or when he does it is days or weeks later. Does he think what I do is not important?”
• “He does not seem to care what I think. He does not listen to me, or he interrupts, or he seems to be merely going the motion of listening. I can tell he’s not fully present, or does not have an open mind. He is going to do what he wants to do. His listening to my ideas seems like a bother to him.”

As a leaders, this is certainly not our intent, and we need to be aware that when we do not get right back to our people when they email or call, they feel disrespected. Trust and rapport diminish and ultimately communication declines and opportunities for growth and innovation are missed.

Recently, one very talented, dedicated, up and coming vice president shared her concern that she does not believe the senior managers of her company like her or value her contributions as they seldom get right back to her voice messages or emails. She, like others who reach out to senior managers, only do so when it is something they believe to be important, and thus need a timely reply.

The manager may feel that what he is doing is more important than what those “below” him are doing – yet, the people “below” him are doing the work of the company!

Prompt responsiveness to those in the field is particularly important. When people in the field know that the leaders in the home office truly listen, respond and process their ideas, input and concerns, trust is built. This trust for the home office is critical for maintaining a true team and having a healthy organizational culture. When everyone is on board, with mutual trust and respect, initiatives run more smoothly and all work gets done better.

When I discuss timeliness and responsiveness with senior managers, they invariably say, “I know, I’m so busy, I just don’t have the time.” We can no longer afford to make these excuses. The health and greater success of our companies depend upon our effectiveness as communicators.

As leaders, we must make the time to be responsive in a timely manner. Busyness is not an excuse. There is no magic bullet, though there are steps we can actively take. We must determine how to manage our schedule and not let our schedule manage us.

Each of us has different circumstances and levels of support. We each need a customized plan to manage our time and attention. It surely means less time in meetings and not being captured by our smart phones and computers.

We need to be available to our people, who are our internal clients, when they need us! It’s our people who serve our clients and who produce our results. Our people need to be as high a priority as our external clients if we are to have a healthy company with energetic, enthusiastic and engaged team members, and to consistently earn the results we desire.

Easy? No! – Necessary? Absolutely!

Simple little things that can go a long way to communicate our respect for the other. For example, if we receive a request and we’re totally swamped, we can promptly respond, briefly explain, and ask if we can get back this afternoon, tomorrow or whenever we can be available. Our timely response will be appreciated.

There are resources to help us, e.g., helpful articles, books, videos and coaches. Let’s realize the importance of our timeliness, responsiveness and attention if we are to be helpful and respectful to our people (and not frustrate them).

The successful leaders control their attention and are responsive and timely.

Let’s make this a critically important principle of our leadership. In doing so, we increase the trust, respect and rapport between us and our team members, and we fuel our teams and company with positive energy.

Timeliness matters!

Leadership is how we help people feel about themselves!