You can only fix what you're looking for.

Watch the clip before reading on.



It's a brilliant example of how the human mind sees only what it wants to see. For my work, it's the chief reason to have an editor. In today's digital environment, the speed at which we communicate often makes waiting for editorial review an impossibility.

What can we do?

• Expect errors — If we're not in the mindset to look for mistakes in our written work, we won't find them. I make mistakes (you know that if you've read this blog). We all do. Most people accept an error ... until we commit them consistently.
  
• Read backwards — Unlike playing vinyl records backwards, you probably won't find secret messages. But it will increase your odds of noticing a mistake.

Thanks to Aileen Benett at thatblogbythatspeaker.com for finding this video first.

Ode on an American BlackBerry

Thou stilkl unravish'd bride of buzzing,
Thoy foster-child of SilentMode and over Time,
Sylvan hisrorian, who canst thus push
A flowery mail more sweetly than our rhgyme:
What pastic-hinged legend haunts about thy shape
Of digital or analog, or og both,
In Server or thwe dales of Aether?
What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy? ... >Error: Content within this application coming from the Poetry listed above is being blocked by Enhanced Security Configuration. Contact your administrator to have verses of this Poem placed on the SafeScribe list.

Heeard melodies are sweet, but Beethoven on Telephonwe Key Tones
Are sweetr; therefore, ye harsh pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endeard,
Pipe to the P-Diddies of no tone:
Faqir yuouth, beneath the messsages, thou canst not leave
Thy side, nor ever can those inboxes be bare;
Bold Lovert, never, nevert canst thou not sync,
Though winning near the goal—yet, do not grieve;
She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy link,
For ever wilt thou reply, and she be Task 'server name - Sending and Receiving' reported error (0x800ccc0f): 'The connection to the server was interrupted. If this problem continues, contact the server administrator or Internet service provider (ISP). The server responded: ? K'

Ah, hjappy, hgappy thumbs! that cannot shed
Your keys, nor ever bid the Spouse adieu;
And, happpy ringtones, unwearièd,
For evert plkiping songs we never knew;
More happy love! more hjappy, hgappy call!
For ever warm and still to be vibrated,
For ever receiving, and for ever sendingh;
All breathing human passion for reply-to-all,
That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and negated,
A burning fingertip, and an aching thumb.

Who areth ese comning to the sacrifice?
To what stacked desk, O mysterious IT,
Lead'st thou that technician lowing at the skies,
And all her sullen angst with profanities drest?
What little company by river or sea-shore,
Or skyscraper-built with striking citadel,
Is emprtied of its associates, this pious morn?
And, little group, thy meetings for evermore
Will not attention pay; and not a soul, to tell
Why thou art thumbing away, can e'er return.

O Stattic shape! aire attitude! with brede
Of warble men and maidens overwrought,
With borest dispatches and the trodden thx;
Thou, palm-sized form! dost tease us out of thought
For an eternity: Cold Receptacle!
When old age shallk this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to spam, to whom thou say'st,
'Beauty is jpeg, truth attached,—that is all
Yde know on earth, and all ye need to knowq.'

Email checking conflict

What are the best practices for how often we should check email?

What do The Four Hour Work Week, The Hamster Revolution and Getting Things Done have in common? Sure, they're all best selling business books. They also present the case for checking email less frequently. In the world of business literature, spreading out the time we spend on email is now considered a best practice.

In my workshops, I recommend checking email at the widest interval that maintains effectiveness. Simply put, that's the least often you can check mail while remaining effective at your job. The interval will be different based on your profession. For example, accounting professionals may not need to check their email as often as someone in a direct, customer service professions like real estate. Unless checking email is your job, checking it more often will only decrease the amount of time during the day to actually accomplish work.


The generation expectation.
Anyone who sends an email expecting an immediate response could be in for confusion, since people in different professions maintain different beliefs over how often we should check and reply to email. But I've also observed a generation gap when it comes to checking email:

• Millennials are confused by any instant-reply expectation on email. For them, instant replies are the domain of text messaging. Millennials think email is for leaving a message. Anyone in their circle who needs an immediate response will send a text message. Don't be fooled by their lack of response to email — this generation is more connected, in more ways than ever before. They find messages like, "Thx." and "I'm all over it." via email particularly annoying, since their viewpoint emphasizes email as a transporter of complex messages (i.e. too long for text messaging) and attachments.
  
  
• GenX'ers fill the ranks of current business and seem to vary their day. Sometimes they check their mobile device by the minute, other times they're lobbying to check less frequently. The priority is usually place on whatever their boss prefers. Which brings us to Baby Boomers.
  
  
• Baby Boomers I've met are mobile device hounds who rarely use text messaging. They check email the moment it arrives, send immediate responses and wondering why no one can keep up. The priority is placed on responsiveness, since for many of them, email is a way to improve customer service. Boomers I've met prize prompt service, so many of them feel there's no need to explain their expectation of prompt email responses. This works great for them when they're communicating with other boomers, not so well with the other groups.
  

Sorting the whole thing out.
Ultimately, the generations are engaged in a battle of email expectations ... and no one's really talking about it. And therein lies the answer.

Consider your optimum email checking interval. How often do you file reports? How often do you write them? You'll need more uninterrupted time during the day to complete a task like report writing (as opposed to report filing). With that in mind, a receptionist could effectively check email more often than an office manager. Have a conversation based on this optimum interval so your organization can get on the same page.

Publicize your email intervals to clients and colleagues.
Here are a few ways to let people know you'll be checking their message in regular intervals:

1. Leverage your signature: Your email signature is a great way to communicate your response schedule. One of my colleagues includes, "I'm trying a new email method to increase efficiency" and goes on to link to a book for more information. Others list the times they've scheduled to check and respond to email .
   
   
2. Leverage your voicemail: Over 70% of phone calls go to voicemail. So anyone who calls you is expecting your prerecorded message. Let them know you return voicemail and email twice a day (or whatever interval you've chosen). Then give them alternate channels to contact you (e.g. for emergencies send a text message or call this number).
   
   
3. Tell them you text: If you're okay with text messaging (this will cost money), let callers and emailers know that. But before you open the flood gates to constant text messages, I'd recommend setting parameters. Ask them to text you at certain times or situations. For example, "If your message is urgent, send a text message to ..." This will help to filter out that mid-meeting ding from your officemate who just folded the perfect paper football and can't wait to text you about it.
   
   
4. Tell them you Twitter: Twitter has yet to filter into mainstream business, but spreading the word won't hurt. Let colleagues know they can check your availability and even contact you through Twitter (or some other web equivalent).
   
   
5. Prompt them to schedule a Chat: Let them know when you'll be available on chat tools like AIM, iChat or Gmail. When we know a 2-way conversation is available, we assess whether our message requires one. Then we'll either leave a message or wait to chat.
   

Implications of generational divide.
The more people I teach email efficiency to, the more I encounter a generational difference between email checking expectations.

For the Baby Boomers I've met, this generation/communication divide makes hiring college graduates extremely confusing. They appear unresponsive and lazy. "These kids have no concept of good service," they'll tell me, as they thumb another message on their BlackBerry.

For the Millennials I've met, they're confused by anyone who responds to email immediately. "He must not have any work to do because he's sitting at his laptop, clicking the send/receive button all day," they tell me as they thumb a text message to a friend.

How can I not smile at two ships passing in the night?

5 ways to treat mail the same.

Mail is mail. Treating it all the same can reduce confusion.

I checked the post office box yesterday. Nothing. "No news is good news," I said as I closed the door. But it's unusual for that to be the case. Most of the time I'm slowly removing envelopes through packs of catalogs, prying the mail from it's small space, trying not to push it back into the mail room on the other side. Then I stand at the "culling table" (the one next to trash can) and toss out what's unnecessary. Once I'm home, I place the mail around the house according to it's priority — bills in the briefcase, invitations on the fridge, magazines on the coffee table, etc.

Seems simple? Sure. I'll bet most of us have a similar process with post office mail. But how's your process with voicemail and email?

They named it mail for a reason
The word "mail" doesn't appear in voicemail and email by accident. It provides clues to the process each channel uses to convey information. By design, all mail uses a "delayed-receipt" process. A message is sent to a repository, where it waits for the receiver to pick it up. This became true the moment post offices were invented.

We call it "voiceMAIL" and "eMAIL" for the same reason. These messages are put into a repository for us to pick up later. If you treat them the same as you treat postal mail, you'll find a number of advantages.

Here are 5 of them:

1. We remove postal mail from the inbox: Imagine leaving your bills, invitations, thank you notes and other mail INSIDE your mailbox. You simply look at it, then stuff it back in, hoping you'll find it when it's time to pay bills or reference that invitation for your cousin's shotgun wedding.
   
   That would be nuts! We'd never find our bills or important mail.
   
   So why do we keep our email in the mailbox? Because no one told us we don't have to. You can drag messages to calendar appointments, file folders, server shortcuts, to-do lists and many more organized places. If it's not important, delete it (just like we would with real mail). Start experimenting with taking your mail OUT of the inbox and see just how liberating it feels.
   
   
2. We check postal mail intermittently: If you stood at your mailbox and repeatedly opened the door to see if new mail arrived, someone might think you have a disorder.
   
   Yet this is precisely what we do with email. How many times have you hit the send-receive button today? (Be honest.) I know, it feels like a slot machine sometimes, click to see if something lucky arrives. But we all know by now that constantly clicking the send/receive button makes about as much sense as standing at our PO box and repeatedly opening the door.
   
   Check your email and voicemail like you check your postal mail — intermittently. Spread out your automatic send-receive schedule and check voicemail at a regular interval to create the space you need to get more done. You'll be amazed by how much work you can get done with just 30 minutes to concentrate.
   
   
3. We rarely certify receipt: When you receive certified mail from a coworker, you probably think the message is critically important (or you've been fired).
   
   Email receipt notices aren't much better. If the message isn't critically important, just send it normally. Otherwise, you're implying distrust in the system or the receiver.
   
   
4. We assume postal mail arrives at its destination: When was the last time you mailed a letter, then called to find out they got it? Chances are you don't do that very often. Your experience with the U.S. Postal Service has built trust in the system (at least for delivering mail). Occasionally, one piece of mail gets lost, shredded by the postal machines or placed in the wrong mailbox. But most of the time, the mail gets where it needs to go.
   
   Today, it's fairly safe to assume your email will arrive. If it doesn't, you will likely get an error message telling you so.
   
   I know what you're thinking, "There was this one message that didn't go through and I never knew about it!" Consider that you send somewhere between 8,000 and 20,000 email messages a year. Do you want to call each recipient because of one error?
   
   Unless you're delivering top-secret Iraqi nuclear weapons information, it's probably not necessary to call regarding email receipt. If you ARE delivering top-secret Iraqi nuclear weapons information, use FedEx.
   
   
5. We allow time for postal mail to arrive: True Story (slightly embellished): Just last week someone asked me if I'd received his email. "When did you send it?" I asked. "I just sent it," he replied. I gave him one of those looks your dog gives you when they have no idea what you're saying. "Oh! You should have sent me a t-mail," I said. "What's that?" he replies, eager to get his hands on the next new gadget. "Telepathy-mail," I said. "But I haven't figured out how to check it, yet."
   
   Would you post a letter, then immediately call the other person to see if they've received it? (If so, see No. 2.) Usually we steer away from that sort of action, knowing it reveals our inner most paranoias, phobias and micro-managing tendencies.
   
   So grab your stress ball and let the email arrive. Sure, it was delivered instantly. But smart receivers don't sit around checking their inbox repeatedly (again, see No. 2). Smart PDA users triage their email, only checking the messages with important subject lines ... usually when someone else has bored them to tears.
   
   

Voicemail is NOT a receptionist.

The advantages of voice in an email world.

In one of the first recorded corporate rollouts of messaging technology, IBM claimed voicemail  saved the company $1,100 per person per year in lost productivity. Today, over 70% of the phone calls you make will be answered by voicemail. Is it still saving us money?

Arguably, yes. (Though it may not always feel that way.)

The proof becomes self-evident when you encounter a non-voicemail company. "You mean I can't just leave her a voicemail?" you tell the phone-answerer, who sits with pen in hand ready to take your message. You contemplate your message. It was going to be an intricate explanation of a current project status. Instead, you dictate, "Just ask her to call me back, okay?"

What's missing in manual message taking (that voicemail provides) is a rich communication environment. You know this instinctively. The message you leave by voicemail includes inflection (implying emotion) and dives right into details that might take hours to explain to a a receptionist. That is, if you're leveraging voicemail for all it's worth.

The vmail disconnect

So why are we so often frustrated by voicemail? Some frustration occurs when we treat voicemail like a receptionist. Anyone who leaves a message with their name, phone number and a simple request to call them back, is using the tool in the least effective way.

Powerful communicators understand that voicemail is a conversation frozen in time. They continue the conversation where you last left it, including details, inflection and precise requests for actions or needs. Why? Because, when you call them back, you'll get voicemail. Then it's your turn to continue the conversation.

If they left a question, you could provide the answer.

If they asked for confirmation, you could confirm.

If they needed clarification, you could direct them appropriately.

If they only left you their name and number, you're not left with many options. You'll call back ... and get voicemail. You could say, "Hey, it's me. Just calling you back." or hang up and try again later (only to get voicemail again). Now you're frustrated.

This kind of disconnect could have occurred in a pre-voicemail era. Your frustration doesn't come from voicemail. In fact, voicemail was intended to avoid this exact situation by allowing users to leave you detailed messages. Your frustration, more accurately, comes from antiquated use of a modern tool. Voicemail is not a receptionist.

A simple template can help

Voicemail is not a true, two-way medium, but a hybrid of sorts. It's no substitute for a real conversation when one is required. But voice recordings deliver far more effective messages for those who choose to maximize the technology. Use a simple template to leverage voicemail's strengths:

1. Name & Contact: Start with your name and preferred method of reply. For example, "Hey, this is Jeremy. I'll be in a conference, so please reply by email to jeremy@jeremybroussard.com." If there's no need to reply, say that here.
2. Details: If you have a request, put it first. If you're delivering information, say that. Remember, this person's reply can only be as specific as your message.
3. Name & Contact: Voicemail has been available since the 70's. Unfortunately, many systems still don't allow users to rewind messages easily. Help them out by repeating your name and contact info at the end of your message.

Here in present day

If your company uses voicemail the same way you might utilize a receptionist, the receptionist could arguably be less expensive. But if you're team is leveraging the strengths of voicemail, continuing conversations, leaving detailed but effective messages, you can begin to realize the savings IBM claimed back in the 80's.

Of course, mail is mail. It needs to be pulled from the container, sorted, prioritized and processed. Snail mail, voicemail and email containers each fill with junk from time to time. But effective use on your part will inspire effective use in return. Leaving us all understanding how voicemail—for lack of a better word—is good.

When "push" comes to shove.

Is your email getting pushy?
I hesitated to blog about the 3G iPhone. After all, it dominated headlines and seems destined to linger above the fold for some time. But one new feature deserves some mention.

Push email
Everyone I knew who'd grown to love their pre-iPhone PDA cited push email (or lack thereof) as a reason to skip out on the iPhone. "The iPhone doesn't have push email, so I'll just wait until the ... ," they said as they stopped mid-sentence to pickup their Blackberry and check their email. Once again, I fell victim to a pusher.

Odds are, you've met a pusher recently. They're most easily identified by the short, incomplete sentences they deliver as they succumb to the compelling need to check their email (just in case their house is on fire and, for some reason, the fire department chose email notification ... only to find out it was another sale at Best Buy). You may also notice their consistent use of "So, where was I?" in conversation. Perhaps most revealing, any question or request from you might be met with, "Can you send me that in an email?"

Medical experts have yet to identify this as a degenerative defect, so we can only hope that rehabilitation can occur. In the meantime, these poor pushers slowly dull their ability to effectively engage in that all-too-valuable business skill — personal communication.

When did personal conversations become less important than email?
I remember the status-symbol phase of Blackberrys, the first to dominate the phone-email combination market. Phones buzzed and execs eagerly held their new toy aloft during meetings, conversations, even at church.

The phones intrigued us. The technology amazed us. The need to have one tempted us like chocolate-covered crack. This euphoric wonder sparked conversations about the value of such a device, all the while we stood blinded to one thing — users were putting email above personal conversation.

Today, the shiny newness of email-on-your-phone technology has worn to a thin and dull "so what?" The execs still have their phonemail devices. So does everyone else in the meeting. As the meeting begins, attendees pull out their devices and thumb away frantically. The presenter is asked to repeat statements so many times they have no choice but to send the discussion ... via email.

The nation is gripped by visions of husbands and wives sitting in bed with PDA's emailing, "So, how was your day?" A realization dawns. If everyone checks their email when meeting, why meet?

Back in the work meetings, words like "rudeness" and "appropriate use" get thrown about. Thus, we enter our current era — under-the-table-email, or sneakmail.

iPhones weren't pushers.
When iPhone entered the market, push email — the "feature" whereby your phone buzzes, rings, chirps or plays "Whoomp There It Is" at the receipt of any email message — remained noticeably absent. "You mean I actually have to check my email?" the pushers belted like teenagers who'd just been asked to take out the garbage.

I'm not sure why the original iPhone didn't have push email. The story in my head is that Apple executives figured out a secretly hidden aspect of human behavior: Push email can be a distraction. If we receive 12 emails a day, being distracted by them isn't such a big deal. Get buzzed for 50, 75 or 100 emails daily and you've now turned your vibrating phone into a massage device (and who can do anything during a massage?).

How many interruptions do you want in a day?
As with all things both obscure and peculiar, a scientist has studied email interruptions with great detail. UK researcher Thomas Jackson found that email interruptions "cost" each of us approximately 64 seconds of consciousness.

You're sitting in a meeting. Your phone buzzes. You disengage from conversation to ponder whether or not it might be important enough to check. Distracted thoughts run rampant, "Could my house be on fire? No, I'm pretty sure the fire department would just call." Sometimes we check the mail, only to find out it was spam or bacn. Whether you check or not, you've tuned out just long enough to miss critical pieces of conversation. You've become a pusher.

Extrapolate Jackson's findings to your in-box. If you receive 30 emails daily and your phone is set to buzz with the arrival of each message, you've conceivably spent 32 minutes in the twilight zone. Receive 50 emails? 75? There's a lot of wasted time with each buzz.

For employers, this could mean your associates aren't getting as much work done, they're more likely to ask for repeated information, they'll stay late from work and more. For most people, this phenomena represents about 30 minutes ... approximately the amount of time spent "catching up" on email after work, at home or on weekends.

What great communicators know.
Interact with highly effective people and several observations can be made. They don't waste time. They're impeccable with their word. And, when it comes to communication, they do two things:

1. Great communicators put the richest form of communication first. That means in-person communication gets primary attention, followed by phone, text and email.
   
   
2. Great communicators manage interruptions. They intentionally remove the distractions and become present with us, making us feel like the message they are delivering or the answers they need from us are of primary importance.

These two concepts hint at a blended solution to the email buzz addiction, which, for most of us, lies between constant email buzzing and manual email checking.

Setting phones to check mail every half hour instantly creates the space we need to be present with people during meetings, focus on reports, even ask our spouse about their day. (This also gets us processing email in batches, something our brains do more efficiently.)

iPhone gets pushed
The latest version of the iPhone touts push email as a feature. Alas, those poor souls who suffer the "pusher" addiction have convinced Apple that supplying the drug is easier than implying the solution. But whether you check your mail manually or get the phone to check it for you, in the end it's always the timing that counts.

VA email causes its own post traumatic stress.

Psychologist's "poorly worded" email sparks an investigation.

In what has become one of the more famous examples of email confusion gone awry, a Veterans Administration psychologist has been called before the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs to explain her directions in an email.

What did it say?
According to CBS news, who obtained a leaked copy of the email in question, the doctor wrote, “given that we are having more and more compensation seeking veterans, I'd like to suggest you refrain from giving a diagnosis of (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) PTSD straight out. Consider a diagnosis of Adjustment Disorder…”

What did she mean?
Senate investigators are concerned the psychologist was putting money before patients, directing doctors to prescribe a diagnosis of "adjustment disorder" that provides smaller benefits to the veterans than a diagnosis of "PSTD".

What does it mean for us?
Though cases like these aren't an everyday occurrence, they serve a grim reminder to each of us — quality workplace communication is essential. The legal fallout of one poorly-worded email could hit the bottom line, the public image and the author with devastating force.

While the investigation continues, the jury is in on a two-fold takeaway:

1. Your email could end up on the front page of a newspaper.
2. Unlike phone calls, meetings and some other channels, every email you send could live forever on some backup server (In many cases, it's required.).
   

With this in mind, it's difficult to imagine using email to convey anything that might be controversial. But we forget. It's human nature to slip into email's comfort zone. Hundreds of daily messages begin to blur the line between business and personal conversation. Before we know it, we're sending light conversation through a channel that could be construed with the weight of a memo.

Solutions for everyday emailers.

1. Important messages require important channels. Anytime you're about to send an "important" email, let that word set off a mental alarm. Would this message be best delivered in person?
2. Suggestions belong in meetings. Got a new policy idea? Think the group is headed in the wrong direction? Writing these thoughts in an email could be construed as a memo (and therefore, a directive). So keep your brainstorming live or, at a minimum, put your concerns in the form of a question. "I believe team A must take immediate action," reads a lot differently than "Should team A take immediate action?"
3. If you wouldn't say it, you probably shouldn't write it. Conversational tones and the appearance of distance between sender and receiver lure us into writing things we might never say. When emotions flare, email's false sense of security creates ripe territory for messages we later regret. Emotions are personal. Deliver them that way.
   

Luckily for us, we get to learn from others' mistakes. We can only guess that the VA psychologist in question wishes she hadn't hit send so quickly. After this incident, two things are certain: MacArthur said old soldiers never die ... and neither does email.

Read the whole story at CBS news

Resources for email terminology and laws

A quick reference from the makers of LISTSERV

L-Soft, the organization that invented LISTSERV back in the 80's, offers a thorough glossary of email terms on its site. So if you've ever wondered what the difference between a "hard" and a "soft" bounce is within the context of email, you'll find:

Bounces: Email messages that fail to reach their intended destination. "Hard" bounces are caused by invalid email addresses, whereas "soft" bounces are due to temporary conditions, such as overloaded inboxes.

Find out accepted definitions for click-through rate, double opt-in and more. The glossary doesn't include bacn, one of the newer categories of low-priority email, but it's an excellent resource nonetheless.

And if you've ever had questions about email legal issues, check out their excellent reference on the CAN-SPAM Act.

Twitter-pated.

Twitter chirps the future of business communication.
If you've got a child under age 12, chances are you've encountered the word "twitterpated" at some point. In Disney's classic Bambi, the wise old owl teaches Bambi, Thumper and Flower why the forest animals are acting a little strange:

Flower: [about two birds fluttering around] Well! What's the matter with them?
Thumper: Why are they acting that way?
Friend Owl: Why, don't you know? They're twitterpated.
Flower, Bambi, Thumper: Twitterpated?
Friend Owl: Yes. Nearly everybody gets twitterpated in the springtime. For example: You're walking along, minding your own business. You're looking neither to the left, nor to the right, when all of a sudden you run smack into a pretty face. Woo-woo! You begin to get weak in the knees. Your head's in a whirl. And then you feel light as a feather, and before you know it, you're walking on air. And then you know what? You're knocked for a loop, and you completely lose your head!
Thumper: Gosh, that's awful.

Of course, the forest animals are falling in love. But their antics are so strange that Bambi, Thumper and Flower swear it will never happen to them ... then, of course, it happens to them.

Today's Twitter-pation.
If you haven't checked it out yet, Twitter is a free and simple (two things that help it succeed) way to let people know what you're doing. In fact, that's exactly all there is to it. In 140 characters or less, users answer one question, "What are you doing?" Users enter anything from eating hot dogs to standing in line. Enable your mobile device and you can attach pictures of whatever is going on around you. Whatever you are doing now becomes a "tweet" (the name for your entry) on Twitter.

At first blush, I felt like Thumper. "That's never going to happen to me," I said. After all, who needs Twitter when I can just email, text or call to find out what someone is doing? Then, it happened (as you'll see on the right-hand side of this column). I'm Twitter-pated.

Why Twitter works.
You've emailed, called and sent three text messages, but the person you're trying to get in touch with just won't connect. What's going on? Technology has promised us instant access, right? Then why won't they connect? This expectation of instant connectivity can be the root cause of many communication breakdowns. And it's exactly the kind of breakdown Twitter helps us to avoid.

With Twitter, you might see that I'm in a meeting, on vacation, watching a movie, teaching a workshop, writing a blog entry, or any number of things that might keep me from connecting instantly. Instead of no reply, voice-mail or a generic "out of office" message, you get some idea of what's happening, when you might get in touch with me, or what channel might work best. And since I can update my status from my phone, it's a cinch for me to keep everyone informed.

The Twitter-enabled office.
Apply this concept to the workplace. More of us work remotely, increasing the need for consistent, quality communication. All too often this justifies a landslide of emails and a constant chatter on mobile devices. But with all this email discussion, when is there time to actually work? There isn't. So we stay late, go in early and work weekends because it's the only time we're not "communicating" that we're working.

Imagine a Twitter-enabled office. You "tweet" that you're working on an important report all day. Your colleagues understand the delay in communication. Your stakeholders know the report is on its way. Your inbox looks a little lighter than it did before? Yeah, maybe so.

The workplace aspect of Twitter has the potential to eliminate a lot of wasted email, phone calls and — most importantly — time. And as younger generations take leadership roles, expect to see it (or it's counterparts) find a place in day-to-day organizational communications.

Consider that Facebook and MySpace have similar functionality. The folks at Yahoo! mail and Gmail are considering adding similar options. The personal use of this communication method has seated itself comfortably in the minds of an entire generation. The workplace is a logical next step:

• Twitter-like features would expand the user-friendliness of Instant Messaging (IM) applications, allowing you to report that "you'll be back in three hours" instead of just noting that you're "away" or "busy".
• Incorporating this feature into the sidebar of standard business email applications could reduce server volume and wasted messages significantly.

Already there are Widgets and plug-ins for a range of software and cell phones, but at the moment Twitter appears dominated by non-work activity. As the line between personal and work space continues to blur, as more of us work remotely and email volume hits critical mass, expect Twitter (or something like it) to find a pivotal role in business communication. So as our spring-time office evolution matures to the heat of summer, don't be surprised to find yourself Twitter-pated.

Where'd email training go?

Over 10 years ago half of all employers trained on the best use of email. Today the burden is greater, but less than a fourth provide help.

The salesman watched you sign the last form to purchase your new car. But before he lets you walk away with the keys, he's going to "introduce" you to the features found in your vehicle. Patiently, you sit through a 30-minute introduction to each button in the vehicle.

Does this make you an efficient driver?

Hardly. But sadly, this is similar to the type of training you've probably received on email communication. Statistically speaking, when it comes to "driving" email, we're all over the road. Wasted email costs us money ($530 billion), time (15-20 days a year), bandwidth (server space, backup cost, etc.) and increases legal exposure. Until we change the culture of communications in a digital environment like email, we're just car salesmen — handing over the keys to an expensive car and expecting everyone to know how to drive.

From bad to worse.

In Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) article titled "The Internet: access grows, policies lag" in HR Magazine, Dec, 1997, Mike Frost reported that training on the effective use of email (i.e. how to write and communicate effectively, not just use the buttons) was dangerously low. Frost adds that "only half (of employers) provide training on the proper use of email." According to the research, over 20 percent of the respondents logged complaints about inappropriate emails and very few had an email use policy in place.

But that was 1997. Things must be better now, right?

Sorry.

In a similar survey this month, SHRM and the privately-operated Institute for Corporate Productivity (I4CP) announced that only 24 percent of survey respondents were trained on proper use of email.

The likely culprit.

How did we go from bad to worse? One factor is that email sits in the twilight zone of corporate training. Mike Song and Tim Burress' white paper titled "Who owns email anyway?" illustrates how most training doesn't happen in business environments where IT, HR and administration departments feel it's the other departments' responsibility. Consider the rapid growth of email use in an environment that requires ownership from all three departments, and you can begin to understand an important factor in the decline of email training.

The beginning of a solution.

The solution is part policy, part training, part culture shift, and it begins with a conversation between each stakeholder. Here are some resources that might help:

• Sample email policies from About.com Having a policy does not equal efficiency, but acts as more of a legal tool. Consider adopting one but don't expect it to make people more efficient email users.
  
• 10 email guidelines from HR Magazine These 10 tips can provide helpful discussion points in a meeting. You might also consider reading The Hamster Revolution, by Burress and Song.
  

Follow up with the right training. New users will need a course on the software you're using (show them the car). Follow up with training on information management (show them how to drive). Training that combines writing skills with the digital tips that make this information stream more manageable provides the best opportunities for lasting change and efficiency.

Virgin Trains makes the big list in a bad way.

An email list error accidentally invited 75,000 people to a golf outing.

An email invitation intended for 75 elite British customers of Virgin Trains (the same company who owns Virgin Records, Virgin Airlines, Virgin Phones, etc.) accidentally included 75,000 of the company’s customers, reports the UK’s Telegraph. It’s a common error that often runs its course with very little consequence — only this time — the company was inviting the group to a complimentary golf outing.

Though Virgin isn’t explaining how the error occurred (yet), we’ve experienced this type of email oversight as a by-product of group mail lists with very similar names. It’s possible to rearrange your groups in Outlook 98 and 2000, but the process is clumsy at best.

Simpler solution: add numbers to the beginning of each group’s name. It’s a quick way to distinguish those important groups from the others.

Will your Live Mesh be a live mess?

Unless your organization has a human-friendly filing system, new file-sharing technologies (like Live Mesh and those that follow) may only complicate your network.
(This post also appears in print in the Lafayette Business Journal)

Even today, I can almost hear my mother’s voice when my room looks messy, reminding me to keep things at least relatively orderly. When I went to college it became more complicated. Cleaning my mess never stopped my roommate from cluttering up the joint or rearranging whatever order I managed to achieve.

Some of my friends had several roommates. With five or six people in one house, the mess never ended. It moved and rearranged and seemed to grow organically (count the dirty clothes and dishes and it was very organic). The mess was alive.

The business equivalent to this dorm-room disaster is the shared drive.
We’ve got designated areas (our room) and shared areas (the living room) that each have enormous potential for clutter. Similar to closing the door to our bedroom, we can keep others from seeing the mess on our hard drive. The shared living areas, however, can be pretty difficult to reign in. At some point, critical mess is reached. The drives fill. That’s when an IT guy (or gal) throws down the mouse and yells like mom, “Go clean your drive!”

To make matters worse, the search tool whispers like a dust-bunny-devil on your shoulder, “Pssst, just drop that file anywhere. I’ll help you find it later.” I can almost hear a whispered laugh as the lost puppy icon runs in circles, fetching file after lost file.

Let’s face it, throwing our files on a shared drive and relying on the search feature is equal to keeping our clothes in a pile on the floor and digging for matching socks each morning. Okay, I’m guilty. I’ve kept my clothes in a pile before. But it made the once-daily task of getting dressed a frustrating experience. When it’s your only method of saving digital files, this “file-by-pile” system costs your business serious money.

According research by Susan Feldman published in Knowledge Worker World, this mess of information is responsible for about $5,000 in losses per employee, per year. She notes, “Knowledge workers spend from 15% to 35% of their time searching for information … Searchers are successful in finding what they seek 50% of the time or less.” Lost data (e.g. files on a shared server) has been blamed for several large disasters including a lost satellite by NASA. But it’s the small, daily disasters that are eating your companies profits. Some 40% of Feldman’s research participants reported “that they can not find the information they need to do their jobs on their intranets.”

This week, Microsoft launches Live Mesh, the first in what will likely be a new era of live, file-sharing technologies. According to Microsoft, using Live Mesh is simple. Just like putting your files on your local hard drive and the shared drive at the same time.

The pluses? There are plenty. You can access your files and applications from anywhere. A “news feed” similar to the one in Facebook lets you know when others have updated particular files. It offers the potential for fewer copies of files, better version tracking, and more.

But, as we learned in college, we can be messy at times. Add roommates and the potential for mess grows exponentially. In that vein, Live Mesh has the potential to become a live mess. It’s like dorming with your entire company, only the living room is bigger, the door to your room can’t be closed and the news feed is constantly telling you what the mess looks like.
Unless, of course, we listen to mom and keep our rooms (drives) neat.

If you haven’t done so already, start a conversation with your IT department about efficient filing methods that everyone can use. In The Pyramid Group training, we suggest a particular method, but any system is better than none at all.

Shared technological systems can only reflect our shared human system. If it’s a mess, we’ll get a networked mess. We’ll also exacerbate our file and find problems. Now, more than ever, we’ve got to start talking about better ways to organize our files.

Live Mesh (or something like it) is the future of file storage and collaborative work. Our storage spaces will inevitably converge online. As this happens, our filing and storage efficiency moves from convenient to critical. These new technologies tout real features, but only organizations with an efficient approach to sharing will reap the benefits.

“Garbage in, garbage out” still rings true. (Oh yeah, mom says take out the garbage, too.)