I need to get this off my chest.
“ish” time is not real time and has no place in business.
It is wrong to make an appointment or schedule a phone call for 4ish. I do not like waiting by the phone, unable to start anything else while I wait until 4:30 for a call that was supposed to happen at 4. You may not schedule my time on ish time.
It is important in business to be on time.
Comparable to ish time, is the “shoot for” date or time. “Let’s shoot for Friday.” That means if anything else comes up, this “shoot for” scheduler will bail on you at the last minute.
What time to meet? “Let’s shoot for 2:00.” Shoot for? As in “this requires the coordination of more variables than I can calculate so the best I can do is provide an estimate of when I can be there”? If your life is so chaotic the best you can do is shoot for a time to meet or make a phone call, you probably shouldn’t be adding to your schedule.
Shooting for a time or operating on “ish” time is just not acceptable in business.
Happy Rant Friday
Chris Reich, TeachU.com
FW78 (Yes, mired down but will dig out!)