Way back in those “Olden Times” communication was limited to personal visits or letters, which could take weeks and months to get from one point to another (and that was just one way). Then came the invent of telephones which speeded up the process, but you were still at the mercy of the person being at the phone in order to reach them quickly (otherwise you could only leave a message and wait for them to get back to you). Later, in the 1980’s(?), Internet became widely used by the main stream population and you now had eMail as another tool for reaching people. In addition to that was the usage of cell phones in the late 70’s(?). Now, we not only have the mail service, telephones, and cell phones that we’ve had all along – We, also, have a variety of Social Media sites (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedN, etc)
With all this available to us it seems that we still have a problem with the basics of communication. There seems to be a pendulum swing when it comes to how we communicate with each other. On the one hand, there is the problem of expecting that, just because we have all these ways to communicate with each other, a person should always be available to communicate at a split seconds notice at any given time (day or night). Now a days it is unacceptable for people to not respond (instantly) to a summons (call, message,or otherwise). On the other hand, there is also the problem with not taking the time to effectively communicate when someone is trying contact you. While instant return of communication should not be expected, it is common courtesy to respond as soon as you can; Or, in cases where you come across a lost message later, respond as soon as soon as you realize you’ve missed a message.
Proper and timely response to messages (or calls) is necessary for good communication. When it comes to businesses that proper and timely response is critical.
