As business and association leaders we all receive and send hundreds of emails daily. Including junk/spam and legitimate emails, I receive 300 emails daily on average. I send on average 50 emails daily. If it takes av average of 30 seconds for me to review and take action on emails I receive (obviously some take much more time and others take much less) then I spend two and one half hours daily reading and responding to emails. Holy cow! I’ve never done that math before. What an incredible waste of time.
Now don’t get me wrong. I know email has created efficiencies in my work day that have saved me plenty of time over the years. Rarely do I write letters anymore. I don’t make and receive as many phone calls as I used to – phone calls certainly take longer than emails. (Though I truly believe the personal touch of a phone call is better than an email for many situations – that’s for another blog)
One of my colleagues shared the following “Email Charter” with me. I am passing it on to you in the hopes we all may decide to adopt its principles and save each other time. You can find the charter here.
Let me know what you think.
Rick Church is Head Coach of CM Services, Inc. The Association Partnership Company. CM Services pioneered the concept of developing long-term partnerships with national and international trade associations and professional medical associations. Mr. Church has published articles and given presentations about association leaders (both volunteer and paid). Mr. Church served as president of the Association Management Company Institute (AMCi). While on AMCi's Board of Directors, Mr. Church was very involved in the development of the AMCi/ANSI standard for Association Management Companies and the AMCi certification program based on that standard.
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