TikTok is currently ruling the planet and the latest invention Clubhouse seems to get picked up rapidly.  But in case you missed it, there is this amazing productivity app for marketers and people working in companies in general. It’s an app that allows you seamless communication with another person. All you have to do -in most cases it’s actually already installed on your mobile device- is start using it. Just have a look on your home screen. Mostly in the bottom left or right corner you’ll find a symbol that looks like a boomerang of sorts. You will need to request your personal 10-digit code when registering with this social platform and start collecting codes of friends, relatives and business contacts. Enter the 10-digit code that belongs to another person and then automatically you do not only hear the other person’s voice, you can actually have a one on one conversation with this person. This is an amazing way of using your mobile device and it’s a feature that will bring a breakthrough in communication that we have been needing for so long.

Obviously, this sounds really funny, but truth is, sometimes we forget what the most obvious way is to communicate to be effective and get things done. So many times, have I seen people writing emails, quite lengthy emails actually, to others and then sending it out, shutting down their laptops and thinking “OK, so that solves whatever is on my mind.” What then happens, that person receiving the email:

1. Reads it and answers you with more questions
2. Doesn’t actually read your email
3. Reads it, but doesn’t interpret the email in the intended way creating a shitstorm of back and forth
4. Reads it and sends it to another to be involved as well
5. Reads it and discards it.

In all of these cases nothing actually gets done. We do not have control either when this person actually reads your email. Let’s say an average person gets 60 to 80 emails per day, then after a couple of days your very important job to be done is buried under more than 250 messages from other people. Then after a week you ponder, why haven’t I heard back yet, and you send another mail to chase down a mail that is deeper buried underground than a dinosaur bone. So, if you really want to get stuff done in a relative short timeframe, would it be smart to send out an email?

A lot of people still think or assume that is the case, but if you really want to get stuff done… pick up the phone. It’s so much easier and so much more direct, has so much more impact. The fact that you can connect with the person, make it personal, in a couple of sentences explain the context and nuance of what you want to achieve and need this other person’s involvement.

Sending out an email is a great way to dump questions and all kinds of unsorted thoughts on others for them to figure out. It’s off your desk and you can duck the accountability issue hanging over your head. You do not need to find the energy to empathize with another whilst speaking, make small talk, sound enthusiastic. All of that, you can be as distant as you want. No Corona crisis needed for that.

I’ve seen people email each other in an office 5 meters away from each other. Recognize that one? Stand up and walk over, that’s even better than calling them! Once I strongly advised a marketer that she should stop typing and be hidden / buried in her laptop and start walking around and talk, engage & connect with people. You get so much more done, and so much faster. After the talk, THEN you send a mail to confirm what you decided, next steps, action points, whatever. Don’t even get me started about the whole cc-ing of people…

It is all there on that device you stare at for 5 hours a day. A simple touch and you increase your effectiveness tenfold. Stop mailing, start calling people. Want to increase the productivity of your team with new ways of working, ready to start experimenting with this “calling people” thing? Give me a ring, let’s do coffee.