Parked On Hold

I had dialed in the number and the access code to the conference call and was now on hold waiting for the host to arrive. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation was hosting the call of Community Health Leaders to talk about collaboration. I was the invited guest, but had been on hold for about ten minutes now. My blackberry buzzed and my friend Susan texted me. "Are you parked on hold?"

I texted back that I was, marveling at how far the technology of communication has come. We can now communicate even though we're on hold.

Less than a minute later she texted again that RWJ staff was also parked on hold. Susan was evidently multi-texting (ok writing that really cracked me up).

In the end we were on hold for 28 minutes. No one could talk on the phone but we were all texting one another while we waited. Finally, I texted that we would have to reschedule and ended the call.

A few minutes later an email arrived from the host to all of us begging forgiveness but she had gotten engrossed in her office and missed it. She threw out dates to reschedule.

Such is the world of modern communication. We talk, call, fax, e-mail, text, Face Book and twitter. We link them all together. Yet, we still not communicate all of the time. It is almost always human error that causes miscommunication.

Earlier in the day I was hosting a staff lunch and the setting was all wrong. The room was loud with people celebrating a birthday. There were 9 of us seated at a long table. One end couldn't hear what the other was saying. Worse than that, no one was really wanting to talk. One person stayed focused on her berry throughout the lunch. Another seemed preoccupied and not really there at all. One's body language was indicating that she was ready for battle. And I sat in the middle throwing out topic after topic trying to get the leaders of Union Mission communicating. Finally we found one surrounding the planning for the holidays and how everyone was frustrated with most everything about it.

For the most part the lunch meeting was a waste of money and time. We should long be beyond having communication forced and genuine planning taking place at these sessions. Human error had triumphed again.

Communication takes work. Someone has to always own it and never assume that it has taken place merely because words were spoken or emails were sent. And everyone has to own communication, both those initiating it and those receiving it. Otherwise, you find yourself always parked on hold.