Scan email headers and delete non-essential messages, starting with any junk mail. One way of minimising the latter is to avoid registering your email address with internet news and discussion groups.
An often overlooked starting point in reducing email overload is the phone. You may be able to prevent a massive email trail by calling someone or leaving them a voice message, instead of sending them an email.
When information needs to be shared, there are better ways of doing it than sending emails with attachments. They take longer to receive and clog-up the recipient’s email account. Why not use your intranet instead?
The nicest things come in small packages. email is one of them. Say it like it is. Make your messages short and sweet. Adding logos and ornate signatures to your emails certainly brightens them up, but it takes longer to receive them. Keep the format simple.
You may be rushed off your feet (who isn’t these days), but that’s no excuse for sending abrupt email messages. Consider other people’s feelings. Words like please, thank you and well done are just as welcome in electronic format as they are in real life.
If you have to throw the rule book at someone, do it in the time-honoured fashion – face-to-face. The same goes for other sensitive management tasks. Staff can and do begin to feel alienated when their annual appraisals, salary reviews and major organisational changes arrive in email format.
Let it be known that it’s not company policy to play politics via email; for example, by using the ‘cc’ button to land someone else in hot water, to shift blame, or to pass on innuendo. It’s not good for morale. If someone does have a legitimate complaint, it should be aired through the proper channels.
It has the makings of a great day or evening.
You’re full of the joys of whatever season it happens to be. Everything’s under control.
And then you log on to your email account. They're coming in thick and fast. Dozens of them. How do you feel now?
Stressed is the word that immediately springs to mind.
While email is undoubtedly a powerful business tool, it can play havoc with your time management.
You can read and send them all day long and never accomplish your true objectives. That’s why it’s vital to discipline yourself.
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