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No Calls

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1603 points ezekg | 2 comments | 16 Jan 25 14:17 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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nostromo ◴[16 Jan 25 22:52 UTC] No.42731922[source]▶
Agreed on most sales calls being unnecessary.

But no internal calls? That's crazy.

No, I don't love calls, but I also don't love spending days on email threads when we could have a 30-minute conversation with all the stakeholders present (along with all the non-textual clues one gets from talking in real time to another human).

Is asynchronous communications sometimes a positive? Yes, sure. But it's also a big negative when you just need to discuss an issue, make a decision, and move on.

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luckylion ◴[16 Jan 25 23:12 UTC] No.42732123[source]▶
While I find it excessive as well, it might have its benefits. If you're very strict about it, you'd have to either fail, or find ways to be efficient without it. That might mean communicating more explicitly and succinctly, so you don't need non-verbal cues, and don't need days to catch up, and that unlocks crazy amounts of efficiency.

But most companies who'd try that would probably fail before they achieve it.

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1. necovek ◴[17 Jan 25 05:04 UTC] No.42734274[source]▶
You overestimate the ability of people to communicate "explicitly and succinctly".

With a mathematical background, I can weigh every word carefully and only include words that add meaning. One short sentence can say a lot.

But people will still assume things, ignore some of those words, and misinterpret so it aligns with their views. When you quickly notice this in a sync communication (which is much easier in a video call compared to an IM chat or even a phone call if you can read facial expressions, body language and tone), that's easily fixed, but email thread can go on for days.

But I agree that you need both (I prefer text, really, but see my point).

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2. luckylion ◴[17 Jan 25 17:37 UTC] No.42740932[source]▶
I absolutely agree, it's much easier to find out whether someone understood your message, or what they actually want to achieve, or whether they know what the goal is, when you have additional cues.

Once you have less need for these cues because everyone is open and says "I don't understand what you are asking, please rephrase it in simpler terms", or "I have no idea what this project is. Do you know what our goal is?", it gets a lot easier and quicker. But it's very hard to assemble a team that does that well.