7 ms·

This drives me crazy when dealing with various contractors in my area. They often only answer by text, and can take a little while to do so. Not a big deal. Bu

This drives me crazy when dealing with various contractors in my area. They often only answer by text, and can take a little while to do so. Not a big deal. But If I send a message with more than one question, there is what feels like a 10% change they will answer all my questions and a 90% chance they will either answer one or none and I’ll just get an “ok”. And I am talking about 5 lines messages not 50 lines. So I have to send my questions one at a time, wait sometimes minutes to hours for an answer, then send the next one. Of course I can also call, but often can’t reach them. Or can reach the front desk that doesn’t have the answers. I understand people are busy but it turns something that should be one message into a cat and mouse game

ButlerianJihad 2mo ago
I learned that in a business context, it was extremely important to adhere to one issue per email. If I peppered someone with a series of questions or worse, bundled unrelated issues into one message, they would all probably be mishandled. I think it was a mismatch of expectations and/or how corporate workers use email apps. So if I held every message to one topic, one question, things tended to work as expected.
- benhurmarcel 2mo ago
  By email this is true but you can’t do that as well by chat or texts. You only get one thread per contact.
nradov 2mo ago
The contractors who are best at doing high quality work are often not the best at written communication. People who enjoy reading and writing don't tend to go into that line of work in the first place. And they're probably juggling your questions with a dozen other urgent issues from employees, suppliers, and other customers. The frustration is understandable but we have to be realistic in our expectations.
hulitu 2mo ago
> So I have to send my questions one at a time, That's what i learned in a big company.

ButlerianJihad 2mo ago

I learned that in a business context, it was extremely important to adhere to one issue per email. If I peppered someone with a series of questions or worse, bundled unrelated issues into one message, they would all probably be mishandled. I think it was a mismatch of expectations and/or how corporate workers use email apps. So if I held every message to one topic, one question, things tended to work as expected.

benhurmarcel 2mo ago
By email this is true but you can’t do that as well by chat or texts. You only get one thread per contact.

nradov 2mo ago

The contractors who are best at doing high quality work are often not the best at written communication. People who enjoy reading and writing don't tend to go into that line of work in the first place. And they're probably juggling your questions with a dozen other urgent issues from employees, suppliers, and other customers. The frustration is understandable but we have to be realistic in our expectations.

hulitu 2mo ago

> So I have to send my questions one at a time, That's what i learned in a big company.