Managing Incoming Communication
By Julie Adamen

Recently I had the pleasure of speaking to a diverse group of managers in the Boston area. During the course of our give and take, we talked about time and task management. Of course, the inevitable came up and head bobbed up and down all over the room:

“I have an ‘action’ list, but when I go into my office every morning, I pick up the voicemail and there goes my list! All shot to Hell!”

I’ll bet many of you are just like the manager quoted above. You start out the day with all good intentions and an action list ready for the day and then the phone rings. Or the email comes. Or in the case of many an on site manager, a Board member walks in your office. And – like a good Type A person, you drop your plans and take care of the email/phone call/impromptu meeting – all the while looking at your watch, thinking about what you aren’t doing that you should be doing.

What you can do to manage your incoming communication: Set Boundaries

The telephone.  Like that manager, you walk in the office and pick up your voicemail. And like him, you have approximately 20 messages. Ask yourself: How many must I respond to directly, immediately? If you were like that manager – the answer is maybe two out of 20. The rest can be sent to vendors or dealt with later in the day. Try this: when retrieving your messages, think of them fitting in to three categories:

1. Immediate Response – Calls from the Board President, your employer, some potential hazard or threat to life, limb or property that you aren’t sure has been handled by the appropriate entity.
2. Delegated Response – Broken sprinklers, pool too cold, light bulb burned out, etc. These are issues you delegate to either your assistant (if you are lucky enough to have or share one) or send on the appropriate vendor or employee to handle.
3. Later Direct Response – Answering general questions, imparting information, sending out forms or paperwork, requests for committee reviews, etc. These are the calls you can return later in the day – or at the most the next business day.

Remember, homeowners are notorious for trying to make their problem or issue your immediate priority. Setting boundaries is not a way to keep homeowners from you – it’s a way of keeping you fit and sane enough to do the best job for your communities, and yourself, in the long run.

TIP: Returning phone calls. Block out 45 minutes or so at the end of your workday specifically for returning all phone calls that did not need an immediate response. Often times you will get the caller’s voicemail – and that is a good thing: you are able to give that person information they need (“I have contacted the pool service company and asked them to check the pool heater. If it’s not warm by tomorrow afternoon, please call me again.”) without getting stuck on the phone listening to an additional 10 minutes on why they think the tree outside their window should be cut down.

Cell phones. The minute you get in the car, do you make a call on your cell phone? Is your cell phone on while you are in a meeting, at a property or even while you are in your office? Do you always feel compelled to answer every call on your call phone regardless of what you are doing at the time? Before you take another call, ask yourself exactly what would happen if you didn’t make that call? Chances are – you would handle it in your office if it’s business or from home if it’s personal. What would happen if you turned it OFF? Then everyone would get your voicemail – and you can return those calls at the time you have set for doing just that. This is managing incoming communication. Don’t get me wrong; I couldn’t do my job without a cell phone, especially when I am traveling.  But if I am in my office, it’s off. When I am in a meeting, it’s off. And unless I am waiting for some specific phone call, it’s off. Contrary to popular belief – constant communication via an always-on cell phone can be detrimental to productivity (and mental health).

Email. As far as I am concerned email is probably the most wonderful thing that happened to small businesses, such as mine. It’s also been wonderful for the management industry in that lengthy phone calls can now be trimmed to one or two lines electronically. Unfortunately, email communication can add an even more stressful and harried aspect to our day if we allow it. Email – especially for those of us on high-speed Internet access – can take on an unwarranted urgency, because we just have to answer each one right away.

Newsflash:  The E in Email does not mean “Emergency.”

TIP: Even if you have high-speed Internet access, pretend like you’re on dial up. Set your computer to send/receive emails every hour or every ½ hour. Resist the urge to check email in between those times, and resist the urge to hit the “send” icon as soon as you are finished typing. If someone really has an “emergency” – they’ll call, they won’t email. Manage your email, don’t let it manage you.

Personal Appearances by homeowners or Board members. This problem is far more endemic to the on site management world – but it does happen to portfolio managers as well. For on site managers, it’s probably one of the worst aspects of the job and one that can be very difficult to control if the Board/homeowners and/or the manager have already established a pattern. And it can be very, very difficult for on site managers who are a one-person show – there is no buffer zone. Try some of these suggestions:

1. On site and all alone? Go to the Board with a well thought out, written plan of business hours for the association office. Many times Board members are oblivious to your issues because you handle them so well while seething in frustration. For example, 8am to 9am could be the time you are in the office, picking up messages and delegating tasks. 9am – 11am could be visiting hours for Board members and homeowners, etc. Get the Board to buy in to it, and make sure the membership knows through continuous publication.  I know this sounds like a simplistic suggestion, but it is my experience that in many cases the manager has allowed the situation to get out of control by not establishing this type of boundary.
2. On site with a staff: if you are lucky, you have a staff that will deal with most homeowners. Unfortunately, you probably have to end up dealing with the Board members directly at just about any time they come in – and when you get to the upper ends of community management it’s usually considered a part of your job: managing them and their political issues. But this doesn’t mean Board members or homeowners should have a license to waste your time (and the association’s money) by sitting in your office for hours on end. Again, set boundaries on your availability by letting the Board know of your need for uninterrupted, productive work time. Advise the Board (notice I didn’t say “ask”) that you would like to establish specific “free” time strictly for homeowners to come in and chat with you – say, from 3-4pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. You’ll find the Board will buy in to that first and then establishing boundaries for Board member “face time” may go smoother. 
3. Portfolio Managers:  This doesn’t happen as often to you but due to the nature of your business life it may proportionally create more interruption than in an on site situation, so maybe it’s even more important to set boundaries regarding the time you are available. Just as stated above, let your Boards know that you are available for homeowners and/or them to “drop by,” but only on certain days and times. When they do come by – try to use a conference room for the meeting instead of your desk especially if you are in a cubicle. Take notes, give them a specific time you will follow up with them and use the universal symbol for “Get out!” : STAND UP; THANK THEM FOR COMING AND SHAKE HANDS.

TIP: PUBLISH PUBLISH PUBLISH your “availability” hours to your Boards and your owners. In newsletters, on the billing statements, on the website, in or near your office (but not too near). For those inevitable times when someone comes in anyway – have forms available for them to fill out to register their concerns. Make sure you take it, thank them, and tell them you will get back to them to establish a specific time on your next “availability” day.

The role of Management Company Owners and Boards in manager efficiency.  Everyone plays a role in this process, and owners and executives are no exception. One of the main reasons we often fail to recognize our part in this process is because we labor under a grave misconception regarding why our managers leave our companies. We continue to cling to the belief that managers leave us for more money.

It’s NOT the money. It’s the working conditions.

The stress caused by poor time management leads to many of the ailments that cause managers to leave a company or the industry all together.  Putting that perspective on it, as an executive, wouldn’t you try just about anything to keep your employees longer? Let’s look at just one possibility at Xerox Corp.

Helping your manager(s) manage his/her (their) day.  At Xerox Corp., MIT researchers asked a group of engineers what aspects of their normal work prevented them from having enough free time outside of work (i.e., with their families). As a result of that study Xerox instituted a two-hour block of uninterrupted time in the mornings. Due to that simple change, those employees had more time with their families and produced their first on time product launch. [1]

What if Management Companies or Boards of Directors instituted the same policy in their companies or associations? What if managers held all calls (with certain, obvious exceptions) between the hours of 10 am and 12 noon? What if employees knew that every day they were in the office they could be very productive, without the constant interruption of the telephone (and the email) for two hours? How do you think they would feel? Do you think they would feel a valued member of your staff, knowing their employer knew their jobs well enough to assist them in managing their time? Do you think they would be grateful for the buffer provided, allowing them a sense of order and accomplishment in their day?

This idea, and others like it, is a part of a movement in this country that addresses the serious lack of uninterrupted, productive working time we have, leading to intense job pressures, stressed out workers and overall burnout. Our industry is no exception and in fact may be a leader in overworked and overwhelmed employees.

Our goal as community association management professionals should be to maximize productivity. Maximizing productivity should not be confused with treating every phone call, cell phone call, email or fax like it is an emergency. Maximizing productivity means managing the barrage of daily incoming communication that can keep us from having any time for clear, uninterrupted, fruitful work time.

Yes, this is a major problem for community managers, portfolio and on site alike. Managing incoming communications – phone, email and personal interruptions are really a form of time management. And time management = stress management = career management = life management. 

As a nation, we are “time impoverished.” And nowhere is that more evident than in the life of a community manager. But we can do something about it – as individuals, and (gasp!) as an industry.  Really.