The Power of a Prompt Reply: Why Every Message Matters

How Responsiveness Enhances Collaboration and Your Life

My job has always been very important to me—to contribute to society, no matter what. My career or title at the time has always been extremely valuable to me, and because of that, I talk a lot about professional development. We want our work lives to be as fulfilling as possible. But also, I suspect we’re all trying to do something in the world, and how can we be better at it?

One of the topics I talk about, as you might be aware if you’ve been following me for a while, is your professional brand and knowing what that brand is. The reason this is important is that it allows you to make active choices about how you present yourself to the world. It’s very common for people to simply react to situations—this is a natural, human response. We develop habits and routines, going through our days without much change. While this is fine for things like going to the gas station, it’s not as effective when it comes to our careers or personal lives. In those areas, not putting in the effort to make intentional choices means we miss out on maximizing our happiness.

Today’s topic is about making a choice, specifically in how you respond to messages—not how you write them, but how you respond to emails, LinkedIn, Slack, or Teams messages. My oversimplified take is that I respond to every single message. You might disagree with me about this as part of your professional brand, but I believe it's less work than it sounds, and it just requires a bit of extra dedication.

Let’s divide this into two parts: internal and external communication. Internal communication includes messages from colleagues, friends, and family. I think it’s important to be conscious about showing people that you are there for them in a professional way. If someone asks for your opinion, you can either meet with them to discuss it or respond quickly if it’s a simple question. Internally, I believe that you should respond to messages within two business days. Why? Because my personal brand is centered around collaboration. I sincerely believe that ideas are better when you can bounce them off other people. This doesn’t mean everyone has to agree, or that decisions should be made by committee. But when you ask for someone’s thoughts and they don’t respond, it can come off as a lack of care or collaboration.

You might think, "I’m focused on my own work and don’t have time for this." But I believe that dialogue with others can improve not just your work, but the work of the people you’re collaborating with. Keeping your head down on your own tasks might get things done, but it’s not strategic. You want to aim for a balance between task focus and strategy.

Now, let’s talk about external communication. I respond to about 98% of the messages I get. The only exception is if it’s something irrelevant, like a mass marketing email about facilities management, which has nothing to do with me as a remote worker. In those cases, I delete the message without responding, because their message lacked human connection. However, when it comes to other messages, whether on LinkedIn or through email, I make a point to respond. For example, when I was doing a workforce series on clinical research, dozens of people reached out to me with questions about breaking into the field. Sometimes, I could answer their questions directly through LinkedIn; other times, I set up meetings with strangers to discuss their approach. Why? Because I can’t very well do a series on workforce development and then not help people develop their careers.

It doesn’t make sense to only respond to people who can help you. We’re all in this together, and I want to be there for others as they move forward in their careers. You don’t have to respond immediately but making a point to respond in a reasonable time frame—about a week for LinkedIn messages or two business days for emails—shows that you care. It’s about contributing more by being responsive and not just burying your head in your own work.