Sorry not sorry! 2022- The year I decided to stop apologising for being a tardy replier!
I stopped doing something recently that I have been doing for a long time, something that felt so natural that I no longer realised that I was doing it. Alcohol I hear you cry? Well, no…. Instagram stalking (Still no but also working on this one) I’m actually talking about apologising - ALL THE TIME….
Whether I am running slightly late, replying to WhatsApp messages, responding to social’s and this can all happen for a variety of reasons, running around after a toddler who is potty training (fun not), not wanting to reply casually, the daily passing of time, working a full-time role…. You know the drill! And then comes the anxiety…. We all get it…. An overflowing inbox, both work and personal, pending messages and the dreaded blue tick when people know their messages have been read, So when I eventually do get round to replying, or rushing late into a social situation, it always starts with an apologetic sorry…. It’s never much fun when you start with a sorry is it, and it sets the tone for the nature of the conversation going forward ……
So I thought about it. Don’t get me wrong, it’s important to respect other people’s time but generally PEOPLE ARE FINE! Everyone I don’t apologise to are just fine, when I carry on as normal, they carry on as normal, it’s as simple as that!
It makes communication a lot less stressful- yay! If anything, the last two years have taught us is to put stuff into perspective, we have learnt a lot. We are in control of how we manage our own verbal and social communications and how we allow ourselves to react to things. We are allowed to stand back and take a breather – we can take our time to respond.
So, what does this have to do with jobs? Recruitment? Well maybe it does and maybe it doesn’t, maybe you are starting all your email replies with a SORRY…. Maybe it’s time you start to change your habits. The way of the working world has changed and is still evolving, it’s become humanised, we have seen a change in our client’s email responses in relation to replying, with people working more hybrid/ flexibly, clients are not looking for a response asap (well sometimes they are 😉 but generally we are seeing a less demand for urgency…)
People are more respective of time… I was even on hold with a global client just yesterday and the message was that whilst their staff was working from home, I may hear the sounds of their children/ dogs/ background noise, but they are trying their best, and that’s all we can do right?
So, stop- take a breather- we all get it.