Saturday, December 6, 2008

For Christmas I Would Like ... a "Do-Over" Button, Please

Some people do a good job of hiding their dirty laundry; some people do a good job of displaying the dirty laundry of others; sometimes I tend to wear my dirty laundry - Madonna-style - on the outside....

Yesterday was typical of the rushed pace that often ensues in this season - it is my chief complaint with the holidays - we try to cram too much in and enjoy hardly any of it. We had a Christmas recital to attend immediately after work, R. was on the road back and forth across our little berg handling details most of the day (she IS the detail person in this household) - so I was feeling some sympathetic stress as well ("sympathetic stress" is a term I just made up - it refers to the times in which you are not particularly stressed about a situation, but because others are stressed you go ahead and take on some of their anxiety out of guilt).

I had learned at the last minute that I needed to travel a little in order to take part in a recruiting event at a college in Alabama. Usually, when I have such events to attend, I will work from home a little and not try and go by the office, but yesterday I thought I needed to go in after the event.

So I arrived in time to work for an hour and one-half before I needed to leave in order to attend the recital.
Then I got a phone call - someone was panicky over a little "forest fire" someone else had suddenly gotten concerned about, and they felt that I should join them in their anxiety.

So I did.

I jumped into trying to put in some activity on their issue.

As many of you know, part of my duties include recruiting for a healthcare system and we use an on-line applicant tracking system. One of the advantages to this system is that I can get applications and information in front of a hiring manager almost instantly. I address a particular applicant with a hiring manager just by highlighting that manager's name on a list and when I have added my communication, with one click the information is emailed to that manager.

I believe that it is a modern maxim that the higher the level of technology one employs - the less forgiving is that technology. In other words, technology means no take-backs.

For instance, with a handwritten letter, one can take all the time they need to edit and to be sure the letter says what they really mean.
With the telephone, there is a higher level of technology. If you actually reach the party you are calling, your communication is instant. That means that sometimes, we might say something that is taken the wrong way. But if that occurs and we are sensitive to it, we can clear things up fairly quickly.

Voice mail, on the other hand, is much less forgiving. Once you have left a voice mail - there are no take-backs. I know this first hand, because in contacting applicants, employees and references, I often leave detailed messages - sometimes my voice mails tend to go on and on. I often say that is my only opportunity to talk without getting interrupted so I take advantage of it. Once I was calling someones' previous employer for reference information, I left a long and droning voice mail about the information I needed... and when I finished, I closed with ... "Amen."
I have no idea why - unless, my voice mail seemed to closely resemble a long and monotonous prayer. Anyway, despite my efforts to lunge into the phone lines and physically grab my words in order to take them back - I could not.

That gentleman never called me back ... I wonder why?

Email is a higher brand of technology and the least forgiving.

In my effort to react to the anxiety of others, I began making some additional contacts and sent over information about an upcoming interview to the hiring manager. I highlighted their name on the Applicant Tracking System page and prepared to send a note. But then I remembered that another manager should see that information as well, so I decided to include them.

With this system, you can click a name on a list, hold down the CTRL button and click another name and both will be highlighted and both will receive your note. HOWEVER, if you accidentally hold down the SHIFT key instead of the CTRL button, every name between the two is highlighted and they all get the email message!

That is what I did.

So in one click, everyone on that list from early in the "D's" to somewhere in the "S's" got the same email, telling them that an interview had been arranged for them next Tuesday with a particular applicant.

About the moment that I realized my mistake, my phone began to ring. Shortly after picking up the phone, my emails began to ping with all the responses!

It was amazing how many managers and directors were sitting at their desk at 4:30 on Friday! It restored my confidence in the good ole American Work Ethic!

30 to 40 people received this errant email - with my name clearly attached - including one Vice President and the CEO (oh when I goof - I do it up BIG!).

People that I report to began, contacting me - they were getting emails and calls as well.
I was attempting to clear up the mistake but was having to do it one email at a time, and every interruption cost me more reaction time.

This all happened in a matter of minutes, but about 45 minutes of my one and one-half hours of work was spent attempting to take back this error.

For the most part, people were nice - with the exception of one manager who called me up to ask if I was smoking crack. Most of them just wanted to let me know that they thought they had received the message in error. Most probably thought they were the only ones that received the incorrect email and didn't realize that I was fielding calls like a radio station receptionist during a $10,000.00 give-a-way!

So I finally left the office - only about fifteen minutes later than I had planned, but with very little to show for my time and effort.

I like to share this kind of thing because if you can laugh at me and I can laugh at me - well then, we have something in common. And that can be the foundation of a meaningful relationship.

No comments: