It happened. Again.

As if we all didn't receive enough emails in one day, a major global market-research company sent me an email stating it would “like to recall” its most recent email message.

No reason is ever given for these “requests” for recall, of course. In most cases you'll never know who's to blame for whatever gaffe said -mail surely contains, or whatever incorrect facts or wording that obviously upset someone in the company chain enough for the PR department to ask for you to kindly ignore it.

I'll admit that in those situations I'm always tempted to respond with an email saying, “Actually, no. You know what? I deny your request. Your message is out there now. You should have thought about that before you sent it. In fact, I'm reading it aloud to the office, right now. I'm not ignoring it.” (This also could do much to explain why I'm single.)

Accidents happen, sure, but in any case, it hurts the credibility of the sender. One reason why this seems to be happening with increasing frequency — and some of my co-workers agreed they've noticed it, too — is the increasing number of layers in the approvals process at many companies, with too many stakeholders needed to sign off on just about anything. Not only does that neuter communications and action, but in many cases also stifles opportunity and can lead to lost business. Other times, miscommunication is often due to simple lack of attention to detail. It happens to us all.

But it doesn't have to be that way.

With a new year just around the corner, it's a good time to assess your own communication skills. If you're an agent or broker, do those in your office — especially if you're the agency principal — understand just how important clear and thoughtful communications are, both among each other and with clients?

Are you reaching out to those clients, just to remind them that you're there when they need you to provide a coverage solution when life events occur? Or just to stay in touch with them, so that the only time you interact with clients isn't at renewal — and you're not just calling when it's of financial advantage to you?

Here's another one: At your place of business, are you actually talking with the people you work with every day?

Think about it. How many times have you silently resented it when a colleague stops by your desk to ask a question or even share good news, when you're in the middle of composing an e-mail or reading a text? When we're constantly chained to our personal devices and besieged by the daily flood of e-mails, it's easy to stay plugged in via technology and ignore the most human of interactions — which, and this is important to remember, are both far more important in the long run and far more personally gratifying.

Team building is about trust, not texts. Talk to your people.

In the meantime, don't ignore all those e-mails in your inbox. Just the ones that tell you to.

Shawn Moynihan is editor-in-chief of National Underwriter Property & Casaulty.

Special Reports /

Time to talk: Let's prevent communication breakdowns

Related Stories

Recommended For You