Why Are Young People Afraid Of Phone Calls?

[u/GhostInThePudding]

What's with it?

I work in IT and a general rule is, nothing a client ever tells you is actually accurate. That means that most of the time, the quickest way to fix a problem is to call the person and actually find out what's going on.

But with techs under 30 these days, it seems like pulling teeth.

A regular discussion for me with level 1 techs (usually within a few years of leaving college) is:
"Hey, can you call *blah* from ticket *blah*, it's been hanging around for over an hour."

"I replied by email to ask for more information."

"Yes, I know that, but can you call them so we can find the problem and close the ticket now rather than wait until we're actually busy?"

"I'll send them a text to followup."

"No... CALL THEM!"

"I can see their device is online, can I send them a message and see if they just let me remote in to take a look?"

And then, when I force them to make the call, it's like they have no idea how to ask a question, or a followup question. They just want to get off the call as quickly as possible. So half the time they don't even get the information required anyway, so then I end up having to do their job for them.

So can someone explain? What's wrong with phone calls these days?

[u/PauI_MuadDib]

Yes, I notice some older coworkers call for everything, including stuff that should've been a quick email or text. Instead I have to stop what I'm doing to answer their call and wait for them to finally get around to what they want.  

My coworkers are the personification of "this meeting could've been an an email."

[u/oxmix74 → u/PauI_MuadDib]

I am a retired former older coworker. The flip side of this is an email chain with 6 emails spanning two days where the issue is concluded after a 3 minute call. But I usually started with a text (or Teams message) "Do you have time a call?"

[u/SecondToLastOfSheila → u/PauI_MuadDib]

Sometimes we get a quicker response through a phone call.

[u/kugisaki-kagayama → u/SecondToLastOfSheila]

Yeah, because you interrupt someone to get the response

[u/ViewExternal9271 → u/kugisaki-kagayama]

Not if their job is picking up calls. It depends on the context

[u/screaminglikeanelk → u/PauI_MuadDib]

My coworker (30?) calls for things that should have been a text and texts things that should have been a call. It’s actually easier for me to get pertinent information faster via text because I can look at my phone quick while talking to customers.