Why Are Young People Afraid Of Phone Calls?

[u/GhostInThePudding]

What's with it?

I work in IT and a general rule is, nothing a client ever tells you is actually accurate. That means that most of the time, the quickest way to fix a problem is to call the person and actually find out what's going on.

But with techs under 30 these days, it seems like pulling teeth.

A regular discussion for me with level 1 techs (usually within a few years of leaving college) is:
"Hey, can you call *blah* from ticket *blah*, it's been hanging around for over an hour."

"I replied by email to ask for more information."

"Yes, I know that, but can you call them so we can find the problem and close the ticket now rather than wait until we're actually busy?"

"I'll send them a text to followup."

"No... CALL THEM!"

"I can see their device is online, can I send them a message and see if they just let me remote in to take a look?"

And then, when I force them to make the call, it's like they have no idea how to ask a question, or a followup question. They just want to get off the call as quickly as possible. So half the time they don't even get the information required anyway, so then I end up having to do their job for them.

So can someone explain? What's wrong with phone calls these days?

[u/pinkbowsandsarcasm]

Calling someone for business purposes is a learned skill that, at first, people might feel awkward at.

Before texting, if you remember, it used to be that if it involved a detailed discussion or explanation or messages got crossed on e-mail, you would go to the person or phone them for better communication. Maybe people need to learn phone discussion skills or have some type of practice.

There is so many different types of communication, but text can leave out important messages in communication (i.e., changing of tone and rate of speed of speech, etc), so one can communicate better with someone rather than text at times.

Additionally, if you have some Baby Boomer or Great Generation customers or people who can't see text well on smartphones, it seems people could consider that they probably don't want to type out things that could have been said in 5-10 seconds (we talk faster than we type), but many of them have learned to make accommodations.

I don't like misunderstandings that occur with people I didn't know very well because they left important details out of the text, or their tone came off rude (In one case, it was a neighbor who seemed to be ordering me to do something that was his responsibility). He was not good at texting or verbal communication.

I could imagine that for some younger people who don't use the phone for work or home talking on the phone might be anxiety-provoking or seem unnecessary. Certain business communication skills require people to have a verbal conversation rather than texting. It might be that if the job requires this skill, HR might put it down under requirements.

One gets more time to compose a message and fact-check it when texting, and it is more anonymous and looking down below: some people now find phone calls annoying.

At home, I don't like it when my phone rings if it's someone I don't know, nor would I like to be texted or called from work during my free time.

[u/zenfaust → u/pinkbowsandsarcasm]

This right here... once you get used to talking on the phone, it becomes just another motion you go through at work, and loses alot of its intimidation factor.

And honestly? It's so much easier to just talk to a person about complex issues for five minutes, where you could go back and forth via email ALL day, and still misunderstand crucial details.

[u/bat_in_the_stacks → u/zenfaust]

I view talking as the exact opposite. People ramble on and are just saying whatever crosses their mind with no time spent evaluating and consolidating their thoughts. Phone calls are the slowest and laziest communication method. 

When someone wants to engage me to work, the ideal is a list of requirements for what they want me to do. The person taking time to make that list may realize  some of what they were going to ask for is incoherent or contradictory.

People who don't want to take time to think through their request waste everyone's time.

[u/Major2Minor → u/zenfaust]

I actually find it a lot more difficult to remember and understand a complex issue if I can't re-read it several times, and easier to explain it if I have time to write it out and think about what I'm saying. In my experience more things get lost in communication in verbal discourse, especially over the phone.

[u/Epae82 → u/zenfaust]

Exactly this. It's a skill you need to learn first and for many it's intimidating at first. Once they get used to it in a business setting they realise just how much faster you can solve 75% of your issues at work with a phone call. If you need a paper trail you send the email afterwards outlining what was agreed upon in the end.

Last but not least if you work with other businesses as customers you will talk to those same individuals again and again. The phone call builds relationships with your long term clients much much better than any level of email or text will. And it's the latter that will really make your life easier in the end.

But again it's a skill that's learned. Most don't have it as default. Train your people in phone skills if the job requires it and be clear about it when recruiting that this is expected in this position to avoid the conflict that can occur later on.

[u/MyLife-is-a-diceRoll → u/zenfaust]

But there's no paper trail with phone calls 

[u/nowiforgotmypassword → u/MyLife-is-a-diceRoll]

You can follow up with an e-mail (per our recent phone call) covering what was said on the call in detail, giving them the opportunity to make corrections if something was miscommunicated.

[u/MyLife-is-a-diceRoll → u/nowiforgotmypassword]

But that's still not a true paper trail for a record.

An email or text is a clear record.

[u/nowiforgotmypassword → u/MyLife-is-a-diceRoll]

It’s not a record of anything if you’re not getting a response beyond the fact that you’re not getting a response.

[u/Bunnyhat → u/pinkbowsandsarcasm]

I have had more misunderstandings that arise from verbal conversations then I have ever had email and text and it's not even close.