I was making notes to myself the other day about “manners” on the job–thinking over what I thought were important considerations and courtesies in the workplace that help build and strengthen business relationships. I’ve written before about how important I think it is to return phone calls and messages, but I also think it is darn good manners to ask someone before putting them on hold!
Of course, I know this is tainted by my own experience as a customer being put on hold indefinitely when I really don’t have the time. A couple weeks ago, I was helping a friend of mine with her taxes and she was on hold with the IRS for over an hour! While she did present her question to two different “live bodies,” they both put her on hold again while she was protesting–saying “Don’t hang up, we deal with people in the order the call is received.” Had she known she was going to be on hold for over an hour, she would have called at a more opportune time (and not at my house).
Since I’ve been on the other end, I try to always ask individuals if they mind being on hold or if they’d rather leave a message or call back later. I also like to try to tell people what they can expect. When I’m answering the phones at my magazine job, I’ll say, “I’m going to see if X is available, if she’s not, I’ll come back on and take a message from you or tell you when we expect her back in.” It can be so rare to reach an actual live person any more when you make a phone call that I want to try to make it at least somewhat productive.
I think it is perfectly fine to say that you don’t know the answer and that you need to look something up, or deal with an emergency or help a child off the potty, but you should definitely give the other person the option of being put on hold and waiting, or getting a call back. It’s just plain respectful of other’s time and good business manners.