Ringing Phones
Have you been taught by corporate management to “always answer a ringing phone”? Is it a good policy? A client of ours told us what happened when a large organization implemented that policy without first giving its employees any restrictions on its use.
The problems began one day following a large staff meeting. As the various groups of staff members were making their way to their respective desks, phones could be heard ringing. Being the professionals that they were, several individuals began making their way to the ringing phones sitting atop their colleagues’ desks. This is where the first signs of trouble began. The employees who were compliant enough to answer the phones of their not-yet-seated colleagues were not specialized in their colleagues’ areas of expertise. This “mismatch in expertise” lead to complete chaos. Along with all the noise from the ringing phones and “hellos” came the noise of desk drawers being slammed and papers being rustled as employees were frantically searching through drawers looking for pens and paper to take down messages for their absent colleagues. In the meantime, most of the employees who had taken the time to answer their colleagues’ phones were also receiving phone calls of their own at their own desks but could not get to their desks in time to answer any of them because they were already occupied with taking messages at their colleagues’ desks.
Combining the adjournment of a large system-wide staff meeting with a policy that instructs employees to always answer a ringing phone resulted in total pandemonium. Cafeteria personnel could be found answering the phones of statisticians. Administrative assistants were found answering the phones of data processing and research professionals. Administrators and VPs were found answering the phones of housekeeping staff and guest relation personnel. Total disorder ensued. Not only was time lost in employees’ answering their colleagues’ phones but also in having to return all the calls that no one could properly address when the phones first began ringing. Nearly everyone who had attended the staff meeting ended up with either taking a message for someone or finding a message on his or her desk. Needless to say, productivity went down sharply that day.
The lesson from this incident is that it is not good to “always answer a ringing phone”. Answer a ringing phone only if it does not have a voicemail greeting attached to it. Answer your own ringing phone. Disregard a ringing phone if a voicemail greeting has been left on it by someone (other than you) whose area of expertise most likely enticed the phone call in the first place.
As illustrated in the episode described above…without the use of discretion, implementing corporate policies can result in a living nightmare.
