When Your Manager’s Phone Etiquette Annoys You.

I think I have always been lucky to have collaborated with good people, of many levels, at different places. I have worked in retail, a skilled nursing home and adult day services. All of these places have had an interoffice telephone system. Everyone familiar with an interoffice phone system knows the ring is different than a standard call. It’s usually a long tone or drawn out “beeeeep” and one can see what extension it’s from.

Some people answer it using a standard “Hello” and other’s a “Hi” and maybe even an occasional “what’s up?”. It depends on the level of camaraderie between staff. One day, I had to ring my new-ish executive director with just a quick question and she answered the phone with a “Yes?”.  She didn’t say it in a tone that was unfriendly, but it wasn’t welcoming at the same time either. The only way to describe it is to say it sounded stony.

Silence was my reaction, for a full five seconds probably. On the phone that was enough to induce an awkwardness that had me tripping into an “oh, hi aah hi” followed by my question.

After that moment was over, I was bothered. I questioned if I was being too sensitive and taking a simple word personally. The more I thought about it, when it comes down to it, I found it dismissive and unapproachable. If a manager’s staff calls them for guidance or to answer a quick question they shouldn’t be made to feel they are interrupting them by a simple phone greeting. It’s important for managers to have good communication skills, be approachable and use amiable phone etiquette to effectively lead their staff.

In like manner, I have always been aware of my tone and words in greeting because it’s better to be approachable and just plain considerate when doing business. It just makes things nicer. I never approached the executive director about it, and she continues to answer the phone that way. I just hurdle past it and chalk it up to her being out of touch with proper professionalism and really, it isn’t my job to enlighten her.

From your window, how do you see it?