Fast-Paced E-World Breaks Old Habits

Published: January 01, 2001, By Yolanda Simonsis, Associate Publisher/Editor

In case you haven't noticed, we turned a critical corner in our lives as we entered the age of near-instant communication. Electronic communication is what I'm talking about. Computer-based communication dictates that standard operating procedures change constantly in most organizations as both hardware and software continue to evolve in their design and in the way they are implemented in the workplace.

Every time another change is instituted in my own workplace, the parenthetical phrase that usually follows the announcement is "Get used to it."

This will remain true in the future. If you don't take to change very easily, it is likely the remainder of your career will be filled with tough transitions.

For many people, electronic communication has vastly facilitated and simplified their lives in many ways; as an editor, my life is among them. In other ways, electronic communication has not only modified good work habits that were often years in development, it may have completely broken these habits and forced us to replace them with new ones.

Workdays now routinely include a flurry of demands on our time kept in order by the use of voice mail, e-mail, laptop computer, pager, personal digital assistant, hand-held computer, or, for backup, even an "old-fashioned" paper desk calendar.

Business executives sometimes must feel like Linda Blair in the The Exorcist, certain their heads are twisting a full 360 degrees. So many demands might go unfulfilled and so much work might never be accomplished without the aid of these electronic devices. How did we survive without them?

Beyond these electronic tools, the World Wide Web places business demands on marketing departments that can stretch them beyond their limits. Without exaggeration, I receive a minimum of a hundred announcements per week that advise me of yet another new or updated web site (our own pffc-online.com is among them).

Fortunately, our industry is taking note of the perils that await us if we don't formulate a marketing strategy that includes the Web. Pulp & Paper Conferences and CMM Events together will hold a special e-business/Converting Conference during CMM International 2001, slated for April 23-26 at Chicago's McCormick Place. The e-business conference, which will be held April 22-24, will feature one-on-one consulting opportunities and Internet demos mixed with a practical and understandable menu of case studies, panel discussions, and workshops.

Help is on the way!