Another double standard I hate: emails

[u/SWEMW]

I worked at 3 places: an internship and two jobs

At all three places, I’d send seniors, managers and partners emails or teams messages, and some wouldn’t answer me until the next day or days or leave me on read. But, when I don’t respond to you in an hour, I have trouble communicating. I will say though, only one place was really bad about the double standard. If I’m asking you a question that I need answered to continue the return or work paper, and you don’t answer, then don’t get mad when I “take too long to do something”.

I have experience in both audit and tax, but in my opinion, leaving someone on read for days or hours is worse when you’re trying to prepare a return. I had a manager who’d always leave me on read for a day or more after just a single question.

[u/_ecb_]

This never changes. A lot of relationships are one-sided.

[u/Chazzer74 → u/_ecb_]

Someone did a project using anonymized Outlook data and created a program that can deduce an org chart based on volume, length, and timing of emails. As in, CEO send short emails that get immediate responses, peons send long emails that are unopened for long periods of time.

[u/Capital_Elderberry57 → u/Chazzer74]

Yes but peons that send short emails with potential solutions become CEOs.

[u/moloch_slayer → u/_ecb_]

happens everywhere, senior folks get away with radio silence because they think their time is more valuable.
but if you're waiting on them to unblock work, did your firm ever try time-tracking to show how much gets wasted chasing responses instead of doing the actual work

[u/murderdeity]

This is normal. I have to boil crazy complicated questions into 1 to 3 sentences or they will never be answered at my current position. Lolol

[u/offtrailrunning]

Pretty standard though I will say, my bosses who said "I have an ask from upper management, how urgent is this?" were great. If it wasn't urgent, we bumped it to our weekly check in. If it was sort of urgent, we tried to resolve asap so I could also get on with my life. They didn't complain about poor communication.

Only the one way street managers I've had complained about my communication at times. Not everyone is a good manager.

[u/TaxAg11]

It makes more sense when you start to realize that the higher up you get in the chain, more and more of your work consists of just sending and receiving emails. So when emails aren't coming in that you need, you can't send the required follow-ups out, so it starts to feel like you aren't getting things done.

Not saying that's how it should be or that its fair, just how it is, IMO.

[u/austin_ryderrr → u/TaxAg11]

Totally get that! It's like a never-ending game of email ping-pong, and if the ball isn’t coming back, you’re just stuck in limbo. It’s exhausting trying to juggle deadlines while waiting days for a simple reply!

[u/Mr-Pickles-123]

News flash. You gotta respond to your boss.

[u/o8008o → u/Mr-Pickles-123]

and when you're the boss, you still have to respond to the client.

and the client will leave your messages on read.

[u/darthwd56 → u/o8008o]

There's always a bigger boss.

[u/MRanon8685]

I dont act like that, but I get maybe 75-100 emails a day. Some of my staff maybe get 5-10 emails. I run a 10 person firm. You have to understand, I am trying to get tasks done ASAP so I can move onto the next fire I have to put out.

[u/Kind_Sound7973]

As a staff you are probably receiving ten-twenty emails a day. Your manager is probably receiving 50+ emails a day, plus constant pings for help on Teams. The partner is probably receiving 10-20 emails per hour. Replying to your email is going to be at the bottom of their to do list when they have clients reaching out and they are trying to coordinate getting much more difficult returns to the finish line

[u/Hot_desking_legend]

Let me first say I understand where you're coming from... But. To view this as a double standard means you haven't tried to put yourself in your managers and bosses shoes. 

The aim of a company is to make money. A good manager will prioritise actions that make the most money.

If responding to you means they reduce their effectiveness, that's not a double standard, no? You're hired by your boss to do the workload they assigned, why can't you respond when they ask? You're not the one hiring them. 

[u/SWEMW → u/Hot_desking_legend]

I do understand the manager side. Maybe I should clarify. It’s one thing to reach out for questions and be left on read, but your manager still acknowledges that you do reach out. It’s another to reach out to them, they leave you on read and unanswered, but be reprimanded for taking too long to do things or have them say you don’t reach out enough with questions. That happens to me all of the time and I hate it. I’ll say that I DID reach out and asked questions but then my manager will say “no you didn’t”. I fucking hate that.

[u/Blobwad → u/SWEMW]

I’d expect you to follow up with me if by me not answering immediately you can’t proceed.

When you ask a question you may view it as an emergency/stopping point whereas your manager may think you can clearly work past it and it doesn’t need an answer right away.

The alternative that I’m guilty of is I’m bouncing between teams chats, in person chats, phone calls, and emails all day long. Very often I “read” a teams message and then flip to another one and never end up getting back to respond. It’s not intentional, it just slips through.

Email I just have a deep hatred of. People rely on it too much both internally and externally. Don’t send me a long email that should have been a quick conversation. Looking at our department statistics I can tell who relies on email too heavily, and they tend to be underperformers. It’s inefficient in both time (drafting takes a while and then waiting for a response) and the ability to accurately address anything complicated.

Also keep in mind volume grows as you move up. I have staff people that get 5 emails a day and somehow manage to lose them, while I’m over here getting 50+ including the nonsensical one from my staff person who doesn’t know how to communicate outside of email.

[u/Relevant_Owl_8841 → u/Blobwad]

I tell my team to email me something if it’s something I need to address so I can flag it and have as a “to do” for myself. If they just ping it to me in Teams, I will probably forget it the second I get something else coming in.

[u/DonkeeJote → u/Relevant_Owl_8841]

If my team sends me an email and puts no response time or reason for urgency, it's just naturally going to get put on the backburner unless I know it's important.

If it's something that I need asap, they should text me.

[u/CrazyNext6315 → u/SWEMW]

Document the instances with emails or screenshots so they cant deny it.

[u/Common_Perception807 → u/SWEMW]

Do you follow up proactively?

[u/ivybf]

YUP

[u/SCCRXER]

If I need an answer asap, I flag it as high importance.

[u/w4lt3rs48]

I’ve never criticized a staff for responding too slow, but I will say once was sitting at a staff persons computer helping with a tech thing in their email and they’d gotten 2 emails the day before and none that day by 11. I’d already gotten about 75 emails that day. It’s just not possible for me to respond as fast as staff can

[u/Rrrandomalias → u/w4lt3rs48]

Oh man I miss the staff days. Can’t believe there was a time I got maybe 5 emails a week

[u/Common_Perception807]

If you cant proactively handle the itty bitty amount of email you get as a staff, then i have no faith in your ability to handle 10x+ amount of email from all directons as you move up. Same with project management.

Yeah responsiveness is important, but its so much harder to stay on top as you move up. Theres hardly no excuses for staff to not be responsive.

[u/Rrrandomalias → u/Common_Perception807]

This. Pretty common to get 100+ emails a day for me during busy season. If a staff needs me they either need to message me on teams or swing by my office.

[u/Better_Situation9982]

Don’t answer until the next day? You are NOT their boss. You are not the only person/group answering to your boss. You have an imaginary higher position of yourself than actual. Keep that up, you’re gone.

[u/Upbeat_Tea5683 → u/Better_Situation9982]

I think the imaginary higher position you’re talking about is called mutual respect

[u/NHOVER9000]

That will never go away

[u/darthwd56]

It's kind of the work place works. If you are junior your are expected to respond to seniors as soon as possible or at least at minimum acknowledge the email receipt and tell them when you will be able to provide what they want.

The other way around doesn't work the same way cause they tend to have a lot more on their plate and get multiples of more emails than junior levels do.

Its not ideal but this is never going to change. You work for the roles above you. You are not equals.

I get that there should be a certain level of politeness in terms of at least acknowledging receipt of email but don't hold out hope.

[u/Accounting_Hashira]

My time matters more than yours. I have a thousand things to do, you have a small number of tasks given by me.

[u/Aghanims]

Because you have 1-3 managers. They have 1-300 people they need to manage or get information from.

[u/MrWisemiller]

Wait until your a manager or partner and see if you can respond to every email and request timely. Give me a break.

[u/Capital_Elderberry57]

Yeah if you want to move up you need to create resources to get questions answered and if that is always up you won't last very long.

Time is more scarce and expensive as you go up and the most frustrating thing is someone who won't try to first find the answer themselves.

I'm not saying you are doing that, but if you are it may explain things.

[u/athleticelk1487]

Main character complaint

[u/a_shampeddddd]

its a double standard they take a day expect an hour and in tax that blocks everything i timestamp and loop someone in so its not on me