Condo Media - November 2011 - 44

COMMUNICATION

by Debra A. Warren, CMCA, PCAM

The E-mail Beast
It’s Time To Tame This Business Tool
hroughout the past year, I’ve been gathering information about the various ways e-mail has impacted our business environment, and specifically the community association industry. While e-mail is a valuable tool and there are certainly benefits that can be identified, most of the impact associated with e-mail, is experienced negatively. This is not the picture anyone would have predicted back in the early 1980s when the first LAN e-mail systems were introduced. In the last 30 years, e-mail has replaced the fax, and for that matter the U.S. Postal Service as the primary delivery for all types of written communications. It has saved us time, money and storage space — the latter only if we can avoid the temptation to print every message. So how did this seemingly valuable tool become such a problem? In this article, we will identify four of the challenges associated with email communication and share the common-sense solutions that every business can apply. keep the box “empty.” This practice has, by default, made the delivery method of the request itself more important than the content. Think about the last time you received a letter from a customer through the postal service. I’ll bet it follow-up requests (with red “priority” exclamation mark attached) if you delay responding for several hours. Practice: Check your e-mail three to four times per day at specific intervals. When you are not using e-mail, close your inbox; if you do not receive a notification every time a new message is received, you will be less tempted to check.

Put the “Business” Back in Communication
Another challenge with many e-mail communications is that the users become too relaxed in the tone of the message and they ignore the basic requirements of a business communication. In other words, the delivery model should not alter formality. If you are sending an e-mail to your clients, it is important to construct your communication carefully. First, identify who should be included in the distribution. If the e-mail is to board members, it should be to only board members. A communication intended for a single homeowner should be sent only to that homeowner. Do not use the carbon copy (cc:) or blind carbon copy (bcc:) function to inform others of your communication. Instead, save copies of sent e-mails in PDF and distribute to others separately. When you use the cc: function, it is equal to extending an invitation to others to participate in the interaction. Use proper grammar and spelling, and give your response adequate consideration

ended up in a To Do pile somewhere in your office, or you may have passed it on to someone else for review. Even if this letter contained information about a “priority” project, it was probably addressed after a non-priority request that came to you via e-mail. Solution: In order to treat e-mail communication as just one aspect of your overall communication system and establish reasonable priorities to e-mail requests, you will need to apply some discipline and use your planning and communication skills. Since there also are many others that are struggling with inbox addiction, you will need to educate your clients, customers and co-workers about your e-mail protocol to avoid the multiple

Delivery Method Doesn’t Dictate Priority
As your morning begins, you have a very clear plan or list of the things you need to accomplish that day, right? Then what happens? Without a doubt, the No. 1 distraction that keeps us from our priority list is e-mail. Many of us suffer from “inbox addiction.” We constantly watch what comes into our e-mail inbox and make it a priority to

CONDO MEDIA • NOVEMBER 2011

Condo Media - November 2011

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