An all too common pattern of one to one communication these days involves a lengthy ping pong of email messages going back and forth. One piece of advice I often give is “after a few times, just pick up the phone!”

Well, I realized that one friend I have, a college faculty member, is being more proactive than that. This guy, a well-connected Digital Native, ends many of his one to one mails with “We’ll talk”, or “Talk to me <phone number>”, or “Set 30 minutes with <his secretary>”.

What this smart fellow is doing, is to send across briefly the information you need to decide that you need to communicate with him – and then encourage you to pick up that phone, or to come talk to him in person. By doing so he assures that the if there is need to communicate, the conversation will become as rapid and productive as it can get.

A good example to all of us!