by Joanna Pineda Posted on June 6, 2008
I got a wondrous e-mail today, from a Senior VP at the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). NFIB is a Matrix Group client and I sent him a routine e-mail. Here is what I got back:
“Please call me today. In an effort to facilitate better communication, I am not going to be communicating by email on Fridays. I look forward to meeting / speaking with you directly. Otherwise, I will respond to your email request on Monday. I encourage you to consider participating. Have a great day.”
Wow, no e-mail on Fridays. I’m not sure I can even imagine a day without e-mail. Would I have the guts to try such a thing? What would my clients and staff say? Would not responding to e-mail be liberating or would I just pay for my indulgence on Monday, when I come back to double the e-mail I have to respond to.
Has your organization implemented a similar policy? How have your members or clients responded? What do you think of the concept?
Related Articles
Is GenAI Jeopardizing Your Brand Authority? Posted on June 24, 2026 What happens when ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude use your organization's research to answer a question but cite someone else instead of you? As AI answer engines become the front door to information, associations need a strategy for AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), and AI visibility to ensure their expertise remains visible, authoritative, and properly attributed. A couple of...
Using AI to Power Smarter Membership and Marketing Strategies Posted on April 8, 2026 Let me be blunt: if your AI strategy is focused on writing blog posts faster, generating social captions, or drafting catchier emails, you’re thinking too small. Yes, AI can absolutely help with those things. And yes, it can save your team time, but that’s not where the real value is. The real opportunity lies in using AI to rethink how your...
Reflections and Predictions: What Associations Should Be Thinking About in 2026 Posted on January 8, 2026 Every January, I like to reflect on the previous year and consider what the coming year might hold for associations, nonprofits, and Matrix Group. This year, I did something different. I invited a few of my amazing team members at Matrix Group to join me on our podcast, Associations Thrive, to talk about the major trends they saw in 2025 and...
6 replies on “No E-Mail Fridays”
I am the one who is doing this. It has proven to be very impactful. It is not that I dont read emails. I just choose to respond differently. Rather than the usual typed responsewhich is quick and does not allow for verbal or visual communication, it causes me to pick up the phone or walk down the hall to respond. People are starting to do the same in anticipation of how I will respond. Email is a great tool for quickly sharing information but not for communication and I am just trying to ween myself and others from using it as such. It is not an organizationwide policy, just mine. Monday’s work load is not impacted.
David – it’s great that you are taking the intitive to point out your concerns and try to change the communications culture. Email is fantastic tool for many types of communication, but not all things. When people overuse it, it can create problems. For example, sometimes email threads start displacing informal networks, creating an often unrecognized loss of efficiency. Email overuse or misuse can also put a strain on work/life balance. I recently published a book on this subject called “Email Less –> Talk More: Improving Productivity & Job Satisfaction for You & Others”.
You can find it at:
I am always searching for online resources that can help me. Thank you!
Gotta love the effort you put into this blog 🙂
Thanks. Decent blog. I really like the theme. easy on the eyes.
Thank you for the excellent article