“Well, I called him again today and got the FU button!”
“I know, I am so tired of this SH%^&T!”
How would you like either of those messages to be blown up on a big screen at a trial or presented to the President of your firm in a deposition? Yet, those are real emails sent by a “professional” in cases that we have handled. You can minimize your risk on any project and improve the change of success if you adopt a communications policy for your firm.
Be Professional
First, you need to address how communications with clients and others will handled and differentiate between types of communications. How will your firm communicate with Owners and other Project participants? Texts? Email? Facebook messaging? Unless you are simply agreeing on a time to meet, email is best. It is not appropriate to use texts or other informal devices to communicate with anyone about substantive project matters. You need to train all of your staff that emails to your clients and other project participants should be written as if it is a formal letter that would be put into the mail. Also, the should always ask themselves whether they would be happy if their mother could see what they had written. This training is particularly important for millennial employees who have grown up texting their friends in less than grammatically correct English. TTYL, OMG!
Internal Communications Matter
Second, you should also address internal communications. Our firm is currently using Slack internally. While the communications may be less formal, everyone must keep in mind that they may be read by many others later if a claim is asserted which relates to the Project. Cursing, either directly or suggestively – %$#^& – is NOT EVER acceptable in the workplace! Making derogatory remarks about others is never a good idea. If the communication relates to a work-related matter, it needs ot be appropriate and professional. Tell your staff that if a claim arises, every single one of those communications is going to be produced and lawyers, other parties, judges and juries will all have the pleasure of reading their prose.
The 24-Hour Rule
Third, adopt the 24-hour rule. Your employees will deal with difficult people and difficult issues on projects. It is very easy to write a harsh retort when faced with unfairness. That is always a mistake. Under the 24-hour rule, a response is drafted but not sent for 24 hours. The question is whether the response still looks good the next day after you have calmed down. I know that in my case, the 24-hour rule has prevented me from sending some responses that I would have regretted. If you question a response, have someone else in your office look it over before you send it.
Don’t Be a Wimp!
Design professionals are highly trained and usually very technical. Unlike attorneys who salivate over confrontation, you do not like opposition. As a result, though, even if you know that there is an issue on the project, you do not send appropriate communications to document your concerns, instead hoping that it will be resolved onsite or because you do not want to make the client mad. This is a mistake. If there is an issue on a job, even if you and the client do not see eye-to-eye, you must document the concern in a professional manner. It is just not enough to say later, “Well, we discussed that issue.” The other party will always deny that you did or change the nature of the discussion. As Mark Twain said:
“Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”
Address thorny issues head on in a polite and professional manner in writing. You may be surprised about the response. But even if the response is terse, you have documented your position.
If you have any questions about what your communications policy should look like, we would be glad to help you. The attorneys of Gibbes Burton are passionate about helping professionals and businesses to minimize risk and build success.