Arnetta Email Case

When email is used appropriately, it can be a very useful communication tool. But, like Arnetta, one can be overwhelmed by the hours spent daily reading and responding to a massive amount of emails. However, there are a few strategies Arnetta should consider to help her use email more effectively. First, Arnetta should check her email at certain predetermined times during the day, whenever feasible. For example, she could check it when she arrives to work, after lunch, and near the end of the workday. This will help her allot the rest of the day to her many other tasks. Arnetta could also set the email software to “receive” messages only during these predetermined times. In this way, she would not be distracted by the constant interruption and distraction that results from incoming messages. If she is uncomfortable doing this, Arnetta could just turn off the visual and audible alerts. By doing this, Arnetta would not be disrupted and kept from completing her other vital duties as a principal, such as walk-throughs of the school buildings and visiting the classrooms. The superintendent and any other colleague will likely call her if a matter is very urgent, but if she is still concerned about setting emails to be received only during certain times, then these people can use instant messaging for urgent situations and she would always get them. Second, because reading a massive amount of emails can literally take Arnetta hours, she should consider the popular “two-minute rule”. How this rule basically works is that if Arnetta can read and reply to the email in less than two minutes total time, then she should go ahead and take care of the email, regardless of its priority. However, if the email would take longer than two minutes to handle, Arnetta should put it on her to-do list to complete later in the day when time permits. At this point Arnetta could flag her messages that need a response soon and then come back to them later when she has more time to give them the attention they deserve. By implementing these suggestions, not only will Arnetta use email more effectively, but she will likely be more productive. There also appears to be some communication problems between Arnetta and the school community. The first noticeable communication problem is between Arnetta and the students, a large portion of the school community. It appears that Arnetta is not placing enough importance on creating a positive relationship with the students, because she is not communicating with the students on a regular basis. It is implied that Arnetta rarely gets out and visits the classrooms anymore, and that she has confidence that the assistant principal is handling everything so well. If the students only know their principal, Arnetta, through the newsletters she sends home or by listening to her over the intercom occasionally, then they will feel as if they really don’t know her. Without regular face-to-face interactions with the principal, the students are likely to have little confidence in their principal, as well as lack respect for her as their guide and authority. The school community also consists of faculty and staff members. Again, it appears that Arnetta mainly communicates with her employees by email, as she is confined to her office for hours a day reading and responding to them. For example, Arnetta is assuming that everything is going okay during the day’s first two hours of school, and that the assistant principal, Ray Griffith, must be effectively handling everything. In order to have good communication, you have to have active, positive relationships. You have to work at these relationships …show more content…
Important and personal information should be presented in formal letters or face-to-face conversations. Plus, by relying mostly on email to communicate with the faculty and staff, Arnetta runs the risk of lacking a personal touch that her faculty and staff desire. Therefore, Arnetta should still send brief emails recognizing staff for awards or to arrange departmental meetings, but she needs to make sure to still maintain an active relationship with her faculty and staff by walking around the campus and having face-to-face conversations. Such face-to-face conversations and smiles communicate to the staff a sense of