I don't really understand this insistence of your boss. Arranging schedules by telephone is such a tag-you're-it experience --- I'm always much happier to get info by email, so I can refer to my calendar, take a few minutes thinking over the arrangements, double-check later instead of relying on my notes from the phone conversation...

And, of course, in the event of a contractual misunderstanding, email is great, because it gives everything in writing.

I'm saying "Hmmmph!" on your behalf, occhi.

Thank you.

She's a total phone person, and tends to leave major info out of emails, so I can understand why she finds it easier for herself to do things on the phone. And I think it'd be slightly different if I were directly contacting our "high and mighty" board members, where email might come across as too informal. But I'm coordinating with their offices, which is just a different beast, and I'd rather have a paper trail nicely organizing in Outlook rather than scribbled on various scraps of paper on my desk. Sigh.

occhiblu - can you schedule by phone (annoying!) and then send a quick "Just to make sure we're on the same page" summary email of the conversation?

I know it's, like, 3 times as much work than to just do it by email, but at least then you'll have a paper trail.

At this point, it's less about the hassle of not having a paper trail and more that I'm just temper-tantrum-ily annoyed that every time my boss brings it up, she says "by phone." As if it's the most important part of the job, as if I'm somehow incapable of following instructions, and as if I've been totally in the wrong in the past when I've organized things via email. I'm sure there are at least 99 more charitable interpretations of her behavior than "She doesn't trust me," but that's what's getting triggered and it's activating my inner five-year-old and making me want to stomp and whine and drag my feet on the entire thing.

I figured stomping to MeCha and wailing "She's being unfaaaaaaaaaair!" was a good way to indulge that inner five-year-old and get over myself. :-)

On the other hand, I am slightly amused that the phone calls I made are, as Elsa predicted, all stuck in "tag, you're it" limbo at the moment, thus preventing me from moving forward on anything.

As someone who absolutely detests the phone, I'm with you. And I like muddgirl's solution - make a perfunctory call to say you're arranging a meeting, and conduct the rest by email.

I wonder why the boss feels the phone is so important? The thing is near useless, and an interruption to boot.

Her background is journalism, and her current work is mainly PR, and it's really mostly about the human connections rather than the information exchanged. She's on the phone constantly, and out to lunch with contacts at least three times a week.

But that's not really my role here -- she specifically hired me to take over some of the writing around here so that she'd have more time to foster those connections -- so I don't get what this whole thing is about.

Occiblu, please call us (all of us, one at a time) and we can discuss this issue with you and commiserate as appropriate. Thanks you for your consideration in this matter.

Occiblu, please call us (all of us, one at a time) and we can discuss this issue with you and commiserate as appropriate. Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

Ha!

occhiblu, this seems to be a case of your extrovert boss not attending to proper care and feeding (or even understanding) of introvert employees.

Oy, the phone, I agree it do sucketh muchly. And the hell of it is, those PR markety-people types JUST DO NOT EVAR GET THIS. Then they have the nerve of accusing one of being "unfriendly" or "difficult to approach" (are you sensing that I have baggage with just this very issue? Good, because you are correct.)

It's the micromanaging thing that really irks (the lack of trust). And the hell of it is, these people never GET that - they just think their busybodiedness (is that a word? it is now...) is "keeping you in the loop".

Bleh. So sorry you have to deal with this. I prescribe chocolate and alcohol in equal measures. Yeah, that'll work - go ahead and phone 'em up drunk, I say!

Oh, good night nurse.

Ask her if she wants the task done RIGHT, or if she wants it done on the phone. One or the other.

I just got done helping a friend of mine coordinate a seminar and the registration thereof, and both of us would have curled up and died without the handy dandy email. In fact, give your boss MY email-or heck, I'll even give you my cellphone number-and I will happily tell her that she is being a silly Luddite!

Email is more casual than a phone call? Since when?!

Email is more casual than a phone call? Since when?!

Since all of our board members are in their 70s?

I don't know. There are some things that email is bad for, and I will admit to using it in those instances when I shouldn't, but scheduling meetings is exactly what it's perfect for.

Plus, as I was thinking about this last night, it also occurred to me that I'm only in the office three days a week, which actually increases the total hassle of dealing with phone messages, because people end up feeling like they can never catch me.

Sigh. And grumble grumble grumble.