Is it Rude to Leave a Call Someone or Leave a Voicemail?
If I call someone for work purposes I always leave a voicemail. Both of those actions are rude, according to the author of a new book.
Author Victoria Turk wrote a book entitled Kill Reply All: A Modern Guide to Online Etiquette, from Social Media to Work to Love. In it she says that making phone call unannounced and then leaving a voicemail is not the courteous thing to do. To her, it is downright rude.
The act that the book's title references, replying all to emails, is undeniably the most abused workplace etiquette there is. There are rare occasions where it is useful and appropriate. For instance, I used it the other day replying to a group of co-workers who are all on the same project that I am and telling them all that I would be available to help them with what the email talked about if they needed it. "Reply all" should not be used to kiss the ass of the sender in front of the entire company, as I have seen it used numerous times.
However, making a phone call and then leaving a voicemail is not rude. I sometimes feel that when making personal calls, but work related stuff is not rude. It's necessary. Voicemails are only rude if they drone on for way too long or only contain information that is already known like who called and that they want you to call them back. My dad used to do that all the time and it was maddening. We got him trained to not leave a message and that we would call him back.
I'm not sure who is going to buy a book about etiquette that isn't really entrenched in society yet, but to wish the author luck I will finish this post by not typing a period on the end, just the way she feels text messages should be finished