Connecting: Make technology your ally, not an enemy

Last week I heard a businessman jokingly refer to his cell phone as a "corporate leash." Another associate chimed in about the irony of technology and time: "Time-saving technology has us working 24-7 just to keep up."

Cell phones, voice mail and e-mail were created for convenience, and were intended to give us more choices and save time, yet with every new convenience comes a greater expectation. With every choice comes a new responsibility.

Many feel as though they have become the servant to technology. Here are some tips for letting technology work for you.

Cell phones

When does a cell phone work against you? When it becomes an instrument of interruption and attention instead of a tool for business. It can give others the impression that you are inconsiderate and unorganized.

Emily Dake Inman, a CPA in public practice, said she was attending a national tax forum in Dallas, where there were about 1,000 people in attendance, when a woman with a cell phone disrupted the entire audience.

"Instead of turning it off or quickly answering, she exited her seat and walked down the aisle as the phone continued to ring. Finally the speaker asked her to either answer it or turn it off."

Cell phone tips

Keep your cell phone off in meetings (it is rude to leave it on).

Check your office number several times a day to catch up on or return calls.

Keep your cell phone number private: Only give out your office phone number.

If you absolutely must not miss an important call, forward your office calls to your cell phone.

According to Peter Bender, internationally known speaker and best-selling author of "Secrets of Power Marketing," "It doesn't impress people any more if you have a cell phone. Get one if you need it, but they are not a badge of importance."

Bender stresses the importance of using the cell phone and voice mail together as a time-management tool.

Voice mail

There are several advantages of voice mail whether you are the sender or receiver. From the sender's point of view, the greatest advantage of voice mail is the ability to leave a verbal message.

For the receiver, it is the ability to let people know when you will be returning messages as well as the ability to check messages from a cell phone. It can be a great time saver or a frustrating nuisance.

Voice mail tips

To save time, leave messages either before or after business hours (you won't get tied up in long conversation).

Before speaking, organize your message by jotting down the key information or request, and keep it brief. Be sure to leave a number if you want to be reached, and specify if you don't want a return call.

Leave your phone number twice, and speak very slowly, pausing between the first three numbers and the last four. (Some people are checking their messages from their cell phones and don't have their Palm pilots handy.)

If applicable to your business, change the message weekly or daily; and when going out of town, leave the date you will be available or checking messages. At the end of your message give your fax number or e-mail address.

E-mail

As convenient as e-mail is, it can be distracting or overwhelming. According to Sherry Haney, president of Pin Oak Consulting and Designs, the most common misuse of e-mail is joke sending.

"After a while people forget that the purpose of e-mail is to communicate. How many friends have you received informative e-mails from, then it stops and all you get are jokes?"

The most common mistake, Haney said, is not including your name.

"I received an e-mail once from someone who had changed their e-mail address and wanted me to have it. I still have no idea who it is. Even though I replied and asked, Who are you,' I never got a response."

Remember that e-mail isn't perfect, and people use it differently, so follow up by phone if the expected response has been too long in coming.

E-mail tips

Use flags to follow up those e-mails you want to reply to, or mark them as unread when you want to respond later.

Check your e-mail twice a day, and respond either before or after business hours.

Not everyone uses e-mail the same, and it isn't perfect. Ask for a response or set your computer to automatic notification that lets others know you are out of the office.

Create folders and categorize your e-mail by organization, people, activities or things. Delete any e-mail that is more than 3 months old.

Technology is a tool, not a leash learn to master it.

(Marlene Chism is president of ICARE Consulting in Springfield.)