No titles is the new black for some companies these days. Should you drop titles from your business cards and email signatures and ride the wave of overt equity between coworkers?
Nah… I don’t think so and here’s why.
Time & Relativity
That’s it. Now, I completely agree with the sentiment that drives the ‘no title’ idea. Too often titles are used or interpreted to modify our interactions and often stifle new ideas, honest feedback or problem solving. Read – boost egos or exercise power.
So what does this have to do with time and relativity? Simple.
Time – when I need to get in touch with someone for a specific reason, I use business titles to understand the best person to speak with to make that happen. Without titles in my contacts I have no idea if Joe is the accountant that I need to contact to discuss a payment question with or if he’s the design engineer.
Maybe you can keep track of everyone’s expertise in your head… but I can’t.
Understanding titles helps me save time both for myself and for the people I work with.
Relativity – titles help me understand the relationships within an organization and again, determine whom to contact under what circumstances. Problems should typically be solved by those closest to them and understanding the relationships in a company allows you to call the line supervisor before you call the owner.
Action for Today
Add your title to your business card and email signature… not to boost your ego but as a service to your contacts.
Stephen
Break time’s over… it’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work!
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One thought on “Tangling with Titles”
Seriously good point. A title also doesn’t define worth or value, but simply job function.
At some point, we lost sight of that–but why?
My opinion has been the ‘Will Rogers’ aspect of America, where it’s assumed that everyone’s input has value in all situations. This allowed us to discount titles as meaningless.