With a nod of inspiration to Tantek's Communication Protocols, I hereby launch my own.

 

While I don't have the full background Tantek has placed into his wiki, I would like to upfront state the best ways to reach me, and so good practices in terms of getting me to respond to you.

 

 

Givens

 

I am a huge fan of in-person communication. I love being with people face to face. Which is why I have a publicly available calendar of availability.

 

I actually like people.

 

I adore efficiency.

 

These are my preferences. It should be acknowledged that different people have various preferences and there are times we all must bend.

 

Preferences

 

Work Communication

 

For work, if it's something that can be solved easily, without intervention, email serves as a suitable form of communication. For items requiring long, intensive discussion, email is a good precursor, followed by in-person or over the phone time to dive into what has been sent.

 

For quick questions, IM or quick phone callls are fine. I often use a quick phone call if someone is in the office, because I can resolve a question efficiently and delve into necessary background without having to type for extended periods of time.

 

Meetings should only be structured to solve problems, to achieve buy-in, or to ensure that a group of people are on the same page. They are also used to inform a large group by adding context to information, and to ensure that analysis is understood. (This is speaking in terms of my role & the work that I do.) Meetings to brainstorm and discuss new ideas for product, marketing or strategy are useful ways to spend time, assuming they are organized and goal-driven.

 

 

Personal Communication

 

Preferences for personal communication vary based on the situation. I still love a nice hand-written letter, especially thank you notes. However, given how time lapses are not efficient in today's society for current information, I generally prefer electronic means.

 

Phone is generally my least preferred method of interaction. There's a very, very, very short list of people I'm willing to call and talk to on a semi-regular basis. These include my mother and several friends who don't use IM, and all of whom live far away from the Bay Area.

 

Email is good for long catch ups with old friends or for similar purposes.

 

In the moment conversations I prefer in person or via IM. IM allows me to catch up with you, have an actual conversation, while also allowing for multi-tasking.

 

Text messages are useful for coordinating efforts, short messages regarding "hey, i miss you" messages, and quick check-ins that don't require a response. I consider Twitter direct messages in the same light, but even more convenient because of the multi-platform approach. This is also appropriate when asynchronous communication is acceptable or desired.

 

Facebook responses are fine for non-time essential methods of contact. Facebook messages/wall posts are for fun and just serve as digital touches to remind one another that we care. While IM, Twitter @ messages, and email can do the same, it can be nice to have public statements of a "hello."

 

I like "behind the scenes" conversations about personal items, so don't tend to @ on Twitter or put too much on Facebook. Letting people know how much I care about them and think about them is really nice, but I don't feel a need for that to always be public in nature. So much of my conversations with friends takes place in direct messages, postcards, letters, emails, texts and whatnot that are not on display for the whole world. Maintaining connections and providing a sense that each of my friends is critical to me. 

 

IM Etiquette

 

This is one of the most valuable of Tantek's sections to me, but I'd like to state my own feelings on the matter.

 

Status

 

I actively maintain status on GTalk, AIM & Y! IM.  My work IM (MSFT Communicator) is linked to my Outlook calendar, and as such, in the work environment auto-updates.  If necessary, I will alter the work IM to map to my current state.

 

I often update my status message in GTalk/AIM/Y! to reflect some funny thought or update on things. However, if I am busy, and it shows RED, don't interrupt me. I am cautious to include the words "in meetings" or "meetings" to indicate when I am otherwise occupied.  It never ceases to amaze me how very often people intrude upon this as if it were no big deal. Often times, while I am in a meeting, I am in my office, displaying data or sharing documents with people, so if I receive an IM, I can't respond, and others can read what is being sent to me.

 

Obviously, there are times when things are urgent, but if it's red and you interrupt, I am likely to not answer.

 

Sure, you can say that I could log off of IM, but there are some co-workers & vendors who utilize those services, and who I may need to interact with during those calls, that are not MSFT Communicator. For that reason, I often don't log out.

 

By contrast, if it's green, there's no need to ask if I can chat, or not. If you begin talking to me, I'll let you know how long I'm available for and if I'm in the mood to chat. I assume you'll do the same if I IM you.

 

I will 'fess up to sometimes forgetting to change status, but in general, please respect it.

 

Noted: There are some cross-platform issues with away vs. busy status that I've noticed when using the GTalk client for Windows and friends using Adium or iChat.

 

The Hey/YT? Conundrum

 

I have one co-worker who consistently types "hey" and another who always has "yt?" and doesn't have an immediate follow-up. This is highly inefficient. If we work together and you're IMing me, there is a default assumption you have a specific question in mind. Jump right into the conversation, please. IM *is* an interruption, no matter how enjoyable it can be on a social level, and by forcing me to look at your "hey" message, and wait for you to type something, I've lost the flow.

 

This is less concerning on a personal level, as often times, if a friend wants to have a conversation, they want to know the amount of time you'll be available and whether or not you're in the mood to actually chat.

 

Ending IM Conversations

 

This is a tricky one, because I've been on both sides of the fence. In the workplace, once the question has been answered, a "thank you" or "goodbye" should be sufficient to end the conversation.

 

On a social level, there's several friends I have on-going conversations with throughout the day where I never close the chat window, but don't feel an obligation to keep the conversation going on in real time. There will be multiple back and forths, and a sense that the conversation is open-ended.

 

I do feel though, that some conversations deserve an actual good-bye or end to them. This tends to be more in-depth, real-time conversations where there seems to be an obvious close to it. My issue is that I sometimes feel like I'm hanging out waiting for some signal that the conversation is over, as I might have more to say, or that there's more I want to hear. The feeling of the other party is sometimes not manifest, which can be frustrating.

 

Voice Mail

 

It's true, if you call my office and get voice mail, it tells you to either email me or call my mobile. If you call my mobile, it tells you to text me. It's true. I don't listen to voice mail. Again, there's a few exceptions, but there's generally a 48 - 72 hour delay to voice mail.

 

I will say that once I changed my office voice mail message 7 months ago, I've gotten maybe 6 messages, but each of them have been followed up either with mobile calls or email, which is much easier and results in a quicker response time.

 

From a personal perspective, unless you want to whisper sweet nothings that will be stored electronically, don't use voice mail. Texting is preferred, email as a secondary backup.

 

Seriously, don't leave me voice mail unless it's not urgent.