An Old-timey Under-used Tool for Communicating with Complex Bureaucracies

The Sneaky Power of the Letter

Communicating with complex bureaucracies, whether business or government, always presents a challenge. Large organizations employ gatekeepers. The job of the gatekeepers is to limit your ability to interfere with the efficient operation of the organization. These gatekeepers often inadvertently make accomplishing even simple goals frustratingly complex. An under-used (and thus often effective) tool for communicating with complex bureaucracies is the old-fashioned letter.

As technology has advanced, the number of communication channels used in business has increased, some going out of fashion and others coming in. For years, I have avoided calling government agencies or large corporations on the phone because of the incomprehensible phone menus and lengthy wait times. Email is sometimes effective, but more and more bureaucracies shield their employees from outside email. The organization may spam you with email, but you cannot email them.

I am fond of web chat systems because they are often under-used and I don’t get the lengthy delays associated with a phone call. Some companies are now fielding service issues by text messaging, but they tend to employ annoying robot questions similar to the phone menus and texts can vanish into the void.