Ignoring the phone after hours could hurt business
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Q. What time can you stop answering the work phone if the company doesn't have set office times?
P.C.M., Queensland, Australia
A. As your business has no set hours, it makes sense for whoever is in the office to answer the phone. You answer the phone and as a result leave your boss a message about a new business opportunity that you cemented while the iron was hot. Score points for you. Or you don't answer. The next day when your boss returns the call after hearing the voice message, he finds out the caller already has solved the problem with a competitor.
While it may seem reasonable to let the phone ring or be answered by an automated attendant, I have answered the Emily Post phones "off-hours" and had the resulting conversation be the start of valuable business.
Best advice: Answer it even after hours because it's good both for you and for your business.
Q. In lieu of bonuses this year our company is providing a deferred compensation plan for sharing corporate profits. Criteria were established, and each individual's deferred compensation was calculated and then distributed via memo to each employee. Is a thank you note appropriate or since the distribution was calculated on criteria is this a business transaction that required no response?
T.T., Utica, N.Y.
A. Acknowledging something that is given is always appropriate. In your situation, the company is giving you something that wasn't required contractually as part of your compensation. Saying thank you is the right thing to do, even when a bonus is part of your employment package. It assures the company that you received notification and understand what has been done for you. Frankly, there simply is no downside to sending a thank you note.
Peter Post is the great-grandson of manners guru Emily Post and is the director of the Emily Post Institute in Burlington, Vt.
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