A simple, "No thank you" would suffice

What is it with people/companies/etc. these days? Back in the good ol' days, it would have been positively unthinkable to leave a person hanging. These days, it seems follow-up is becoming extinct. Let me explain.

In the past many months, Hubby and I both have been contacted by various organizations. Hubby has been called to be a possible consultant on a project. Hubby was asked to submit a proposal on another project. For both pojects, the people contacting Hubby were extremely enthusiastic about his participation. I was asked to participate in a community event, which I said would depend on the information they sent me. The event is in the planning stages; whether or not it happens depends on if they get enough participants. That's three different contacts, for those keeping track.

Have any of these people gotten back to us? No. The first project was dependant upon whether or not they could get funding. Fine, so call Hubby and say, "sorry, we couldn't get the funding." The second group decided to go in another direction. He's still waiting for the, "thank you for the time and effort you put into our proposal, and working so hard to keep the costs down, but we're going to go in another direction." As for my event - I have no idea if it's on or off, I never received the information the person was supposed to send. I have sent two emails, the last one including a request to at least confirm with me one way or the other.

Nothing. Nada. Zilp. Zilch. Zippo.

With my round of job applications last year, I discovered that this attitude is also de rigueur in the working world. Apparently, it's no longer necessary to say, "thanks, but no thanks" if you're not interested in someone. A few years ago, I interviewed for something, got called in for a second interview and still never heard back. I had to call them to find out they selected someone else.

It's wrong and rude. Especially in this electronic age. Send an email, for cryin' out loud. One email is all it takes; bcc all the peole you're rejecting, so you can send one email to everyone. Seriously, how much time will that take? And for the love of monkeys, if you say you're going to call someone, call them. And especially if you're the one pursuing the person, keep them updated - let them know what's going on. Don't get them all excited about a project, and then drop 'em like a hot potato.

A little bit of politeness and consideration can go a long way. Heck, we can even change the world. It's not hard to make a person feel good. Or at least, it's not hard to keep them from feeling royally ticked off. Take a minute to say, "sorry, but no thanks."

Thank you.

Labels: crankiness, misc, self-improvement

posted by projgen @ 21:24