Invest an hour to save thousands!
Winter Clear-Out!
Is Your Inbox Screaming At You?
Bursting At the Seams?
Packed Full With Old Emails That Should Be Given The 3 D’s Approach?
Do it, Delegate it or DITCH IT!
Do It Now!
Read the full article on Michelle Waitte’s blog, Life Success Formula at http://bit.ly/8PvpZM
Many emailers think they’re expected to respond to received email messages within milliseconds. Give it a rest!
Email was never intended to be an urgent communication tool, so take the pressure off.
The strong majority of emailers, according to studies, don’t expect a response for 24 to 48 hours. Just think of this… When YOU send an email message, you have no idea whether the recipient is at his or her computer, you don’t even know whether he or she is in the office that day! My guess is that you are in that majority who’s not expecting an immediate return.
So why then, do you put unnecessary pressure on yourself to respond immediately?
Instead, group the sorting and managing of your email. See our posts Do You “Do Email” and Trouble Managing Your E-Mail? Behave Like an E-mergency Room Nurse for more information on how to do this.
Wait a minute! I’m on the RECEIVING end of an e-mail message… How can I reduce the amount of e-mail I receive???
You can. And here are just some of the ways you can reduce the amount of e-mail gracing your already overwhelmed inbox. Many of these tips are excerpted from Inbox Detox and the Habit of E-mail Excellence (Acanthus Publishing,2009) by Marsha Egan.
Email begets email. It is important to understand that the more you send, the more e-mail you’ll get. We believe that for every one e-mail message sent, about 3 are received in return. After all, you’re not always sending to just one person.
By reducing the number of emails you send daily, and by implementing some simple steps when sending email, you will in return reduce the number of emails you receive.
There is no question that people who use email more frequently in turn receive more emails in response. Try reducing your sent messages by half and observe the result.
Below are some other ways to minimize the email coming into your inbox. Here is a summary of email reducing practices:
Ask yourself, “Is this email really necessary?” Consider that each email you send to one recipient could create at least one return email. For messages sent to groups, there is an obvious potential mutliplier effect. By envisioning the email you send as a potential trigger for a return email, you will help yourself receive less email.
Pick up the phone. Situations requiring true dialogue are best served with a phone call. Many times even a voice mail message can be better in advancing the conversation. Because we talk roughly four times faster than we write, you can convey more, and with the proper voice inflection by voicemail than by e-mail.
Avoid emotion. Argumentative, emotional, or controversial emails should not be sent; they not only create more angst, but generally create more email response. And if several people are copied, you can just about guaranatee that all of them will be copied on the response.
Use an autosignature. Be sure your email signature line contains all of your contact information. A detailed signature line will make it easy for others to call you or contact you instead of emailing, thereby saving the overall transaction time.
Resist temptation. Don’t fall into the trap of responding to emails just because you feel you need to-if an email truly doesn’t require your reply, let it go and save valuable time.
Clear, concise, short emails. Well crafted and clear emails avoid misunderstadings and return emails to you asking for clarification.
Main point first. Place your main point, assignment, or request within the first two lines of an email can get your reader focused on exactly what you want right from the get-go.
Copy the right recipients. If you copy people extraneously, you are not only generating more messages for them, but also risking receiving an unnecessary response yourself.
Proofread your email. By making sure that the content of your message is understandable, you will avoid a barrage of reply questions in your inbox.
Try these. Let us know which ones work for you. OR – share more tips!
Keyboard Kim’s fingers are locked to her keyboard. That’s all she does – tap away on those keys…
When I ask clients if they have ever e-mailed to the person in the cubicle or office next to them, nine times out of ten, the answer is yes. Sometimes this is appropriate – in the case of simple questions for which people don’t want to interrupt or impose – but other times, it’s absolutely ridiculous because the item requires discussion.
This practice isn’t happening with only the person in the next cubicle, but applies to anyone within reasonable range of contact. Some people are said to “hide” behind their email, using it prolifically even when other means of communication are more appropriate.
Kim’s Antidote: Many times, face-to-face or telephone discussion is much preferred over email. Simply taking the initiative to meet with a person, and getting the issue resolved with dialogue enables the employee to convey the facial expressions, body language, and feedback that can make an interaction more useful. Just remember, email can never replace conversation.
Excerpted from Inbox Detox, Acanthus Publishing, 2009
When deciding whether to email, call or visit, consider the overall time of all parties involved, not just the amount of time it takes you to create and send your email.
Forwarding Frank forwards e-mails indiscriminately, without editing, or explaining the forward.
Another practice that seems to get people’s goats is to receive a long strain of e-mail correspondence — I have seen some with more than 10 appended e-mails — with the simple statement, “see below.” How will the recipients know which part of which e-mail was important?
Frank’s Antidote: By taking just seconds to “clean up” the forwarded e-mails, and highlighting or even summarizing the most important points, you will save your readers time and confusion. Even more so, you may save yourself from unnecessary return e-mails with questions asking for clarification.
Excerpted from Inbox Detox, Acanthus Publishing, 2009
Most successful businesspeople have one thing in common: They have a plan and they work that plan. Productive email users are no different. They take time to organize their days, and stick to that plan, allowing for reasonable (but not continuous low priority e-mail) interruptions. (excerpted from Inbox Detox, Acanthus Publishing 2009)
Urgent Ursula sends emails when she needs something ASAP. She expects that her subordinates have their email open and are anxiously awaiting her electronic gifts. She doesn’t consider that her employees could be trying to manage their daily plans. Sometimes Ursula almost “enjoys” the power that it represents.
Ursula’s Antidote: Never send urgent e-mails. Email was not established to be an urgent communication tool. Anything urgent or needed in less than 3 hours should be done in person or by telephone. (excerpted from Inbox Detox, Acanthus Publishing 2009)
Hate having a Cluttered Desk? Then why are there so many messages in your inbox?
Keeping numerous emails in your inbox is akin to keeping all of your paper tasks strewn all over your desk. There is no organization, no priority, no categorization.
If you hate having a cluttered desk, then apply the same principles to how you manage your inbox. 200+ messages hanging in that inbox is equal to having 200 notes, files, messages, sticky notes ALLLL over your desk, in no piles, or files, – just strewn all around. That’s what you’re doing by leaving all that stuff in your inbox.
Your efforts to keep your inbox empty will hinge on the effectiveness manage all those messages coming in to your inbox. The key to this is: GET THEM OUTA THERE!
This doesn’t mean handling or working all those items, it means organizing them. That’s where e-folders save the day. See our posts on how to set up folders 12 steps .
By creating separate folders to store emails that have arrived in your inbox, you are taking a proactive approach to the problem rather than a reactive method that will lead to stress down the line.
Make it easy for people to respond quickly.
By including your contact information in every sent e-mail, you make it easy for the recipient to respond to you, whether by e-mail, telephone, or post. If they have to look something up, they might “put you on hold,” and not respond in the time you expect.
Most e-mail programs have this feature. They also have the capability for you to program various auto signatures for you to use with different audiences. A standard default auto signature might look like this, and yes, it includes your email address:
Clint
Clint Smith, Vice President
ABC Company
123 Park Road
Anywhere, PA, 19500
610-xxx-xxxx
TF: 877-xxx-xxxx
F: 610-xxx-xxxx
C: 610-xxx-xxxx
clint@ abcco.com
www. abcco.com
Here’s a bonus: many people like to add your contact information into their databases, and a full auto signature makes it easy for them to do so electronically. That’s why you include the e-mail address.
Excerpted from Inbox Detox (Acanthus Publishing, 2009)
Your
inbox is making you sick, and
Inbox Detox - And the Habit of E-mail Excellence Order yours today. Detoxify your Inbox tomorrow
