Tech Etiquette – The Rules Have Changed

This is a follow-up to our previous post where we talked about how most Americans – Millenials in particular – prefer written vs. verbal communication. With this transformation of our communication preferences, even within the non-voice world, it is no surprise that the rules for using the phone (as well as email, text and social media) have also changed with the times or with the generations, or perhaps are just now getting clarified or established. Overwhelmingly, most Americans (even younger adults) believe that everyone is too preoccupied (read: obsessed) these days with their smartphones/mobile phones (82%). However, being that cell phones are here to stay (at least for the time being), what’s clear is that we all now need to be briefed on what is (and is not) acceptable tech etiquette, both professionally with clients/colleagues and personally with our friends/family.

Stating the obvious, the rules for phones are different depending on the world in which one operates. At work in particular, there doesn’t appear to be a clear maxim on whether phone or email is better, likely the preference is dictated more by the urgency or complexity of the situation, but notably a generation gap still exists:

• 58% of 18 – 29 year olds prefer that people email them instead of call at work vs. 36% for those 30 and over
• 49% of 18 – 29 year olds believe things would get done faster at work if people would just call rather than email vs. 40% for those aged 30 and over.

However, there are some things we can all agree on when thinking about technology in both work and social interactions, whether young or old:

VeraQuest, as a company, is pretty casual when it comes to hard and fast rules for employees, but we have started to give serious thought about how we communicate to clients and whether we communicate differently based on age. Have you too established any rules in your job or practice? Do you act more like a younger or older person in your use and preferences regarding technology? And, how often do you personally break the rules above?