To Respond or Not to Respond

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Our incoming messages are exploding.

LinkedIn messages. Facebook and Twitter notifications. Emails. Texts. Snaps.

Just reading and responding to everything could be more than a full-time job.

You need a strategy for when you do and don’t respond.

And I don’t subscribe to the philosophy that no response is the right way to say no.

In our hyperconnected world, our humanity and good manners can too easily go by the wayside.

Sometimes it’s because we can’t help the person and we need to say no. In those cases, have a standard professional response you can copy, paste, edit and send to say you’re not interested at this time, but you’ll keep the info for future reference.

Some messages are easy not to respond to:

  • Automated sales pitches, usually via LinkedIn and Twitter
  • Connection requests immediately followed by a sales pitch, again, usually via LinkedIn and Twitter
  • Connection requests in LinkedIn from people you don’t know and that aren’t personalized to explain why they’d like to connect with you
  • Tweets that mention you as a way to draw you into an issue for which you can offer no meaningful response

Some messages deserve a response. And while it would be easy enough to ignore them, giving a response can set you apart and enhance your company’s reputation:

  • Customers of your company who need help getting an issue resolved. Respond to that customer right away.  Be a friendly, helpful, human face and voice. Connect them with your company’s customer care team for a rapid response.

Interesting stat: 78% of people who complain to a brand in Twitter expect a response within an hour. Another one: 77% of people feel more positive about a brand when their tweet has been replied to.

(This is where I remind readers that opinions expressed are my own.)

  • People from your alma maters, past and present employers and other professional groups who ask for your advice or an introduction to a colleague for networking purposes.
  • Connections, colleagues and friends who post valuable content. Read their link, give them a “like” if the content is something you want to be associated with, and leave a short and upbeat comment that adds a constructive observation to the dialogue. Social media is all about reciprocity.

And some messages fall in between.

An example? A request to connect to one of your connections, without a clearly stated reason.

Recently a LinkedIn connection asked to connect to a colleague, to invite her to an event. I suspected it was a sales pitch and didn’t want to spam my colleague. I asked the requester for more info. Never heard back. End of story.

Suppose you do decide to respond to a message to decline a request and you get a response asking for something else.

What then?

Here I take my cue from a wise colleague, Tina Morefield. She’ll send a response. One response. And after that, no more.

Unless, of course, it’s from a customer who needs your help. In that case, keep responding until the issue is resolved to the customer’s satisfaction. Because our customers are the lifeblood of our organizations.

When do you respond? When do you not respond?

With Freedom, Responsibility

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A birthday calls for celebration and reflection. And our nation’s birthday is no exception.

It’s a perfect day to be thankful for the many freedoms we enjoy in the USA. As a communicator, I believe our freedom of speech is particularly profound.

When our founders penned the Declaration of Independence 239 years ago today with its reference to the right to pursue happiness, they likely could never have imagined today’s world of social media, 24/7 news cycles and Sunday morning talk shows.

It’s distressing and frightening to hear about bloggers in other parts of the world who are sentenced to cruel and unusual punishments because they have dared to share their views.

That’s a right we are fortunate to have every day in America. However, freedoms come with a flip side called responsibility.

Words have impact. They can build people up. Or they can tear them down. Sure, according to the letter of the law you can post hurtful, snarky or even untrue content online. But why would you? What point does it serve? How does it make the world a better place?

Do you want to make the world’s problems worse? Or do you want to be part of the solution? As a realistic optimist, I like to believe people would overwhelmingly vote for the latter.

A very public figure in a recent TED talk on the price of shame called for a return to empathy and compassion. The talk had a call for us to become “upstanders,” by speaking up and standing up for others.

That would improve our world in so many ways. Yes, you can say anything you want. But your words will have consequences, good or bad. And if they’re digital words, they will last forever. So think before you send, post or tweet.

Penelope Trunk had great advice in her webinar called Reach Your Goals by Blogging. For those wanting to develop their careers through blogging, her advice was simple: “just don’t write about where your security clearance goes.”

If you don’t work on a field where security clearances are required, it simply means to think about what’s confidential and sensitive information, and don’t blog about that.

That still leaves a myriad of interesting topics to write about. And it fits well with the Josh Ochs mantra I mentioned in How to Be Social.  If you keep it “light, bright and polite” in social media, as Josh recommends, you’ll be in good stead.

That doesn’t mean you have to be an online Pollyanna or avoid addressing big issues head on. But it does mean to think about discussing them in a constructive way, being balanced and looking for solutions.

This will become more and more important the more digital our world becomes. In The Reputation Economy, author Michael Fertik talks about how all kinds of decisions affecting you will be made in the future — based on the digital persona you either actively or passively create.

Make sure it’s the one you intend. Speak as freely as you like, but realize there will be consequences, good or bad.

One of my first bosses in corporate communications had great advice. Highlight the benefits of the company or the particular initiative, he said, and showcase it in a positive light. Tell the truth, act with integrity and address “what’s in it for the audience.”

With that said, how do you balance freedom and responsibility?

What Makes a Top Workplace?

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Visiting one of DIRECTV’s Denver offices this week, I felt a special energy.

People were upbeat and friendly. A hum of activity filled the halls. Lively conversations spilled out of the elevators.

A lobby sign reminded employees they’ve made the company a Denver Post top workplace for three years in a row.

(Kudos are in order here for Denver-based communications leader Anthony Martini, HR leader Carlos Botero and all of the leaders and employees at our Denver sites.)

It was not unlike the company’s many other locations, where people are highly engaged in entertaining the future by delivering the best video experience in the world.

What makes a top workplace?

While there are many models and methodologies for identifying top workplaces, for me there are three things. They all need to be present for an engaging and energizing employee experience.

Purpose. What is the company’s vision? How is it changing the world? And how are employees part of something much bigger than themselves as individuals?

A compelling and inspiring purpose motivates people to pour their heart and soul into their work. It drives discretionary effort, where employees put in significant amounts of effort above and beyond what their jobs require.

Many companies today report low levels of engaged employees. That’s why I’m especially proud of my colleagues at DIRECTV, whose high engagement and strong financial performance put in the company in Towers Watson‘s high performing companies norm.

Leaders play a critical role. They’re the ones who articulate the purpose and communicate every day in their words and actions how their teams further that purpose. One of their most important roles is also to express a genuine interest in employees and inspire them to deliver their best efforts.

Communication is the catalyst. It gets back to the tree-falling-in-the-forest question in my first post. Without effective communication, a compelling purpose is nearly nonexistent.

“Start with why,” Simon Sinek said in a TED talk with 22 million views, How Great Leaders Inspire Action.

People. We spend most of our days with our work colleagues. Talented and positive people make the workplace come alive.

It starts with having a compelling employer brand, articulating the promise of the employee experience your company offers. That branding brings top talent on board, and ongoing development keeps everyone growing and stretching.

Add to that an inclusive work environment that values everyone’s ideas and insights. This leads to a constant stream of innovation, not to mention better decision making and happier employees who enjoy coming to work each day.

Possibilities. Limitless potential encourages people to keep stretching and growing — to learn and develop themselves as they contribute to the success of their organizations and their teams.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone is on track to climb what used to be known as a corporate ladder. It does mean that people have an opportunity to build valuable skills and experiences, that they’ll put to use at their current organization or another one.

LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman and colleagues call these “tours of duty” in The Alliance. In this framework, “Employees invest in the company’s adaptability, and the company invests in employees’ employability.

This creates multiple possibilities for the future, strengthening both people and organizations in the process.

A top workplace isn’t about free food, yoga classes, pet care or a myriad of other perks.

While those are nice and most people wouldn’t refuse them if offered, those are extrinsic rewards. This makes them more ephemeral and less powerful than intrinsic rewardswhere the enjoyment of the work itself is the reward.

Enjoyment and inner fulfillment come from a strong purpose, great people and limitless possibilities. These are a lot less expensive than 24/7 meal service. And much more sustainable and satisfying to boot.