When I was Superintendent in Britton-Macon, one of the coaches had a “24-hour rule”. He invoked it with upset parents. Most such parents wanted to talk in the heat of the moment. They were concerned with a disciplinary issue or their son’s lack of playing time. The coach thought waiting to handle the discussion would cool the angry parent. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not. Some angry parents just got angrier. He implemented the 24-hour rule years before my arrival, so I let it go.
I never had such a rule. I did my best to tackle things as they occurred. I knew if I didn’t things would just build up. I’d rather deal with a spark than fight a fire. It didn’t always work but I tried to put my students and their parents in the front of the line. Not everyone walked away happily but I let them have their say.
After I retired from my “real” job, I became a consultant working with people within three different counties that later expanded to five. I made presentations in area schools seeking students interested in working in a business environment during the summer. I spent a lot a time in my car seeking willing participants. During each student presentation I invoked my version of the “24-hour rule”.
I simply said, “There’s one of me and hundreds of you. If you have a question after I leave here today, send me an email. I’ll respond within 24-hours. You may not like my answer, but at least you’ll have one. I expect you to respond to me as well. If nothing more, just confirm the receipt of my response with an “OK” or “got it.”
It was a simple request and one that most followed. Those who didn’t found themselves on the outside looking in. Expecting a reply in a timely fashion seemed to be reasonable to me.
Some students preferred to text, and while I responded to those, I didn’t initiate conversations in such a fashion.
Now that I’m totally retired, I follow the same self-imposed guideline. If you ask me a question via email or text, I’ll respond within 24 hours even if my response is “I don’t know.” I don’t trust this whole electronic thing to function properly. I think some things just get lost and continue bouncing around between satellites forever.
I try to treat voicemail in much the same manner. If you leave me a message which requires a response, I’ll get back to you within 24-hours. If you don’t hear back from me, my reply is probably bouncing around outer space.
Conversely, if you’re just providing information, you may not receive a response at all.
That’s just how I roll.