It seems that communication via email is something that many teams struggle with. I'm running into a similar issue with my students regarding email, and I've talked to a few other teams who have the same problem.
It's interesting to me that this generation of plugged-in, tech-savvy students rarely uses email.
Even more mind boggling is that probably 1/3 of my students aren't even on Twitter or Facebook. This leaves text messaging. ...which obviously is not a great way to send a large amount of information.
What I have been doing with my team, with growing success:
- Emailing the team with important updates 1-3 times per week, to help them get used to checking it.
- On super important emails, I make sure to BCC all parents and politely ask them to remind their children to check their email.
- Include "ACTION REQUESTED" in the subject line of emails that require responses (this suggestion was given by a parent who deals with emails in the business world on a regular basis).
- Use the app Remind101, which sends out a massive group text message. It's super easy to use!
- Include Google Forms in emails when I need to know who is going to attend what event, or who is interested in leading up an event.
- And lastly, I have been starting every meeting with, "Raise your hand if you received the email that I sent out on (fill in the date). If you have not read your email, log into a computer now and respond to anything you missed."
Gradually, all of this has helped my students remember to check their emails and respond in a timely fashion. It's still a work in progress. There are still some kids who come up to me at meetings and say, "I just don't check my email."
I usually respond with, "Well, that's the main form of communication for our team, and when you get to college you will need to check your email multiple times a day, so let's help you get in the habit now."
Also, like your mentor, I was super frustrated with this mentality at first. And then I just started looking at it as a game. So far my score in this game is increasing every week. I'm confident that come the start of school, my students will be well-trained in the art of communication via email.