All Ye Over Scheduled..TimeBridge is Here

Recently, I traded about 10 emails over 5 minutes with just two other people trying to schedule a luncheon that we can all agree to. If you've ever been in this situation, and have an already over-burdened email inbox, you'll like what TimeBridge has to offer. It's a scheduling tool that has just become available in public beta. Rafe Needleman does a great job describing its features. So I won't go into detail here. What I really want to talk (rant) about is how we've become the conversation-adverse generation.

How many times have you emailed someone or IM'd a colleague in the next cube? How many emails have you thumbed on your blackberry that a 2 minute phone conversation could have resolved? It is ironic that the more connected we are, the less conversational (i.e. the art of listening and responding interspersed with the addition of new information or insight to the subject at hand) we've become. The next time you start an email to a colleague, ask yourself if a phone call or hell, a stroll to the person's desk 3 cubes away will get the issue resolved more effectively.