There are many instances when it is fitting and proper to send a traditional “snail mail” thank you note within a few days: when you receive something of value from a friend or co-worker, when an associate or neighbor does you a kindness, when you are a guest in someone's home, when a friend attends your child's graduation, the list goes on.

At All Hours

Responding to email is trickier. Email (and text, voice mail, and Instant Messaging) arrives at all hours, from all around the globe. Some messages are important, most are not. For legitimate business-related messages, it is appropriate to respond within at least 48 hours—24 hours if you can, and eight hours if you're really on the ball.

If you can't respond in short order, at least send a placeholder message saying, “I'm traveling and will be back in touch soon…” or “Received your note and will respond by Thursday.” Placeholder messages require less than 10 seconds of your time and help maintain the relationship with the corresponding parties.

To wait days on end, and then respond by saying that you've “been busy” is not responsive. Worse, it puts you in the same class as all the overwhelmed others, and you don't want to do that.

On the Line

What are the rules for returning phone calls? Today, with everyone is carrying mobile phones, it would be difficult for them to believe that you didn’t receive their message.

Your best course of action is to respond to callers within 24 hours, but within eight hours is better. (You might not want to respond to some people at all, but that is not the focus of this article.) If you don’t have time for a lengthy conversation, at least offer a brief message via voicemail or some other means acknowledging their call and stating when you'll be able to respond at length.

Bottom line: The brightest, most articulate, and successful business professionals I know establish personal guidelines for responding to messages. Some respond to all messages by the close of the business day. Some respond to morning calls by the afternoon, and afternoon calls by the next morning. Some have a strict 24-hour limit.

Whatever parameters you choose, be consistent with everyone. Your associates will benefit from your responsiveness—and so will your career.

For more career development tips and tools, check out the TD at Work Career Management Collection.