Commercial Investment Real Estate is the magazine of the CCIM Institute, the leading provider of commercial real estate education. CIRE covers market trends, current developments, and business strategies within the commercial real estate field.
Issue link: http://cire.epubxp.com/i/536709
40 July | August | 2015 Commercial Investment Real Estate "Figure out what you need to spend your time on each day," says Julie Morgenstern, productivity and time manage- ment expert and author of Never Check Email in the Morning. "What concentrated work do you need to accomplish today? Who do you need to talk to face to face? What are the non- email, non-text items in your day? Carve out time to allow those things to be done." Overcoming Distractions Multitasking is a myth. You can't look at a text on your smartphone and give your client your undivided atten- tion at the same time. But as communication methods and the tasks associated with them multiply, CCIM prac- titioners have learned to recognize which approach works best for them. "I get something done in a shorter time if I stay the course with it," says Warren Klutz, CCIM, MAI, president of Warren Klutz and Co., in Bristol, Tenn. Andrew Cheney, CCIM, has created f ve steps to manage digital interruptions. His steps include knowing that he cannot be everywhere at once, setting up a home of ce identical to his work of ce, and turning of the automatic alert on his email. "In commercial real estate, you need both the quiet focus time and the energizing bullpen exposure," says Cheney, a principal at Lee & Associates in Phoenix. "I make development calls from home f rst thing in the morning where I can focus without the distraction of the open, collaborative of ce." Building Relationships Determining the best communication method for the task is another hallmark of staying focused. Howard Meier, CCIM, MRICS, believes commercial real estate is a relationship- based business and schedules regular meetings even with long-time clients. "You need to get in front of the client or prospect as soon as you can to build the relationship and trust," says Meier, a broker at Bexhill Real Estate Brokerage in Toronto. "Technol- Even if you avoid email for the fi rst hour of the day, it still has a way of eating your time alive. Julie Morgenstern in her book, Never Check Email in the Morning, offers the following advice on loosening the grip of email. • Keep your email alarm off. Check email at designated times such as 10 a.m., 2 p.m., and 5 p.m. If an issue is critical or urgent, someone will call you. • Process emails fully during your email sessions. Respond immediately to emails that can be answered in two minutes or less. For those requiring more thought or research, schedule a specifi c time to respond. • Put the message in the subject line. In many cases, you can write everything you need to in the subject line: "Please schedule staff meeting for Friday 11 a.m." "Lunch meeting set for 1:30 p.m." Similarly, if you need an immediate response, say so in the subject line — "URGENT" — and ask others to do the same. • Start longer emails by telling the reader what you need. A little note like "Please review and advise," or "Can you double-check the numbers below?" will save the recipients time, focusing their thoughts as they read. • Stick to one or two points per email. Long-winded emails that require scrolling don't match people's attention span. It's much more effi cient to write a separate email for each issue than to catch someone up on 10 compli- cated matters in one email. EMAIL RULES