AIBU to to deem business phone calls as almost rude if they’re not urgent?

[MalfStape]

I’m prepared to be in the absolute minority on this! My job involves a huge amount of administration and I work directly for a very busy managing director. Both of us answer our emails in an incredibly timely manner, in fact our business and reputation depends upon this.

I consider my emails to be a sort of in-tray exercise and I deal and answer them in order of importance but always within a very quick time frame. I can deal with and dash off a massive amount of responses within a very short amount of time – as can the MD.

I find that I now get feel incredibly irritated by phone calls, 90% of which are not time important. Many of them are people trying to contact the MD and these only come through to me when the MD is genuinely in a meeting. Nine times out of ten the caller will respond “Oh no message, don’t worry, I’ll send an email”. Why didn’t they just email in the first place then? Also, phone calls take up far more time than an email despite the outcome being exactly the same.

I also prefer emails because they leave an admin trail that I can refer back to at a later date.

I feel irrationally irritated when I take calls that are about “something and nothing” but which have interrupted me doing something far more time sensitive. AIBU?

[Marksman]

Hey there! You're not alone in feeling that way! Emails can be a lifesaver for busy professionals like you and your MD. It's all about efficiency, right? I get your point about phone calls sometimes being more of a hindrance than a help, especially when they could've been emails. Switching to business phone service might actually streamline things for you. You could set up call routing or voicemail options, ensuring you only get those truly time-sensitive calls. Plus, it leaves a record for future reference. It's worth considering!