Mastering E-mail Overload
Exhausted by email? Feeling loved by many? Inundated by “insanemails”?
Part of the problem with email, among the many blessings, is we know more than we
ever needed to know. We’re “in the loop” on everything even when we don’t want to be. Sending emails to groups or several people at a time is as easy as one click of a button. And, be assured, some of those email recipients really don’t need to know about a colleague’s food allergies and lunch requests.
Let’s say you get 100 emails a day. If you spend three minutes reading and responding to those letters, that’s roughly five hours… Yikes.
We all know email is a very important element of doing business and staying in touch. Here are some tips for effectively using email.
Your subject line should summarize your note – not describe it.
People scan their inbox by sender and subject. If you make your subject line relevant, they’re more likely to read your note. The best way to do this is to summarize your message in your subject line.
For example: A good subject line would read: “Sending promos to clients today”. And a bad subject line would read: “promos”.
Be clear of your purpose when you C.C. someone.
Ask yourself why you’re sending the message to each recipient, and let them know at the start of the message what they should do with it.
To get action – be clear.
Speak clearly and you won’t need to carry a big stick. If you’re interested in getting things
done, try summarizing your request at the end of your message.
Separate topics into separate e-mails… up to a point.
If someone sends a message addressing a dozen topics, some of which you can respond to now and some of which you can’t, send a dozen responses—one for each topic. That way, each thread can proceed unencumbered by the others.
But, be judicious you’ve got a number of tiny points to make. Try jotting down your points and giving them a call on the phone.
Edit forwarded messages.
Don’t ever forward a message along without reading the entire note and possibly editing it. Make it appropriate and make sure you don’t get the original sender in trouble.
Schedule specifics in the subject line.
For example: “Meeting today at 2 p.m. to finalize sales trips”. It helps people prioritize details and duties.
Make your e-mail one page or less.
We all know, if we have to scroll through an email, we probably won’t. Make the first two paragraphs of your email the most important. Your note will fit into a preview panel and your recipient will read it.
Check your email at the same time each day.
Why tolerate email interruptions when we’re trying to get something else done? Turn off your e-mail “autocheck” and manually check your email two or three times a day. When it’s time to check your email, close your door, turn off the phone and blast through the messages.
Create a “response list” to prioritize messages.
Run through your email inbox. For each message, note what you have to do or whom you have to call. Otherwise, delete it. Zip down your entire list of emails then, zip down your response list and actually do the follow-up.
Use context when replying to others.
Sometimes it’s difficult to follow an email conversation. You may be the tenth or twelfth person to get the message. Ever read a subject line that sounded like a musical scale? Re: Re: Re: Re: Give your readers a context for your answer. “Yes, it’s good to send the promo material to our clients today,” is a good example of context for this response.
Train people to be relevant.
If you’re inundated, begin replying to emails with one word responses. “Relevant?” Soon, people will catch on and you’ll have successfully trained many others.
Keep your responses very brief.
When someone sends you a ten page letter, reply with two words. “Yes, good.” You’ll quickly train people not to expect huge answers.
Of course, you can always ignore emails… If they’re really important, the topic will come up over the phone or in a meeting. Of that you can be sure.
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