The Email Jungle - 10 Tactics to help you tame your email problems

Don’t despair! Here are 10 tips that will restore your sanity, improve your reputation as a professional communicator and put you back in control of your mail. E-mail is one of those necessary evils, like credit cards and mobile phones. We can’t live with them, and today’s society won’t let us live without them. The answer? Learn to do it better, smarter and faster. Read on to change your email blues forever.

1. Control your urge to respond now

Only check your email two or three times a day. Opening every message as it arrives distracts you from the task at hand. Having broken your chain of thought, it may take hours to get back on track.

In today’s world of global communication, we often bow to the pressures of immediacy. But before you get caught up, ask yourself this question “What will really happen if I don’t see every message as it hits my computer?” Twice a day is sufficient. Go on, live dangerously and turn off the “notify me” option on your software. Do it – now!

2. Don’t use groups to send all your e-mails

We are all complaining about the sheer number of e-mails that hit our computers every day. Most of them are a complete waste of time, but we have to open them to find this out! And when you use standard groups to send e-mails –through laziness, to cover yourself so they can’t say they weren’t told, or because you just like to tell everyone everything – you add to this over-supply of useless e-mails.

Emails are a communication system and should be used to do just that – communicate. You wouldn’t invite the entire department to a meeting if you just wanted to talk to 2 or 3 people would you? Use the same logic when it comes to sending email. Your colleagues will thank you for it. And if you pass on this tip to them, your own in-box may lose some weight too. If you do think it necessary to send messages to a whole group, then mark them clearly with either “for your action” or “for your information only” in the subject line so the recipients can easily determine its priority and choose when to open it.

3. Avoid the reply-reply-reply merry-go-round

Have you had a ride on this merry-go-round? By the time you reach the tenth reply, you have changed the subject or lost the thread of thought completely. Here’s what to do to keep some order.

If the subject changes at all, then send a new email using a new subject title. Remember, the subject title should say it all, and give the recipient a clear and concise idea of what your message is about. If the subject is still the same, but only some sections of the chain remain relevant, cut and paste the relevant sections of the original message into a new message. For long messages, type your reply in a different colour, in the body of the original message – this helps to identify what section of the message you are replying to. For short messages and short replies, set your software to type replies in a different colour.

4. Use signature blocks to save time

Most e-mail software allows you to design a number of signature blocks (texts which sign off using any words you like). You could create one for external customers, using a more formal farewell, your job title, your phone/fax details and a company slogan or message of the month.

For internal emails, you could create a signature block with an informal farewell, just your first name and some fun sign off. (Yes, it is OK to have fun at work, even when dealing with the dreaded email system!)

5. Use folders to organise your correspondence

Why do you keep any of your emails? So you can access them if and when you need to – right? But how often have you tried to find a particular email and 45 minutes later you are still wading through files, ready to throw your computer through the nearest window?

Just like letters used to be filed in various filing cabinets in the dim, distant past, similarly e-mails should be filed on your computer’s hard drive. Create folders, which make sense to you eg “customers”, “suppliers”, “departments” may make sense to Jo Bloggs, but you might prefer “my regular customers”, “boss stuff”, or “easy to reach suppliers”.

File “skinny” not “fat”. That means put fewer emails in each folder, and use more folders. This will make it easier to retrieve the email you’re looking for, especially if you get a lot of mail on one topic. And remember to create a “read later” file for the e-mails marked “for your info only” which you will be receiving from now on.

Use your archive function to keep your folders a manageable size. Apply archive dates by folder, so you can choose to keep frequently accessed information for longer periods, and archive less important information more often. This helps the retrieval process enormously.

6. Think (and cool off) before hitting the reply button

 Emails are often like conversations, but with time between each speaker. Use this time effectively. If the message sets your blood boiling, the temptation is to hit the reply button immediately with an equally inflammatory retort. Don’t! Take time to consider what you are saying. Unlike the spoken word, the written word can be forever.

7. Not all emails deserve a response

Emails, though often likened to a telephone conversation in slow motion, are nothing of the sort. They are the same as all correspondence, with new rules of etiquette and new levels of access and speed. Unlike telephone conversations, not all emails need, or expect, a response.

You neither have to acknowledge receipt of all messages, nor have the last word on a chain of reply-reply messages. The original sender probably didn’t expect a reply, and you have just added to their already substantial list of emails for that day. Unless you are asked for a reply or a specific action, or you must advise the recipient of some vital piece of additional information, do not reply. Be discriminating with your reply button, and everyone will be the better off.

8. Group incoming email for more efficient reading

You spend a significant amount of time opening and reading email every day. Time which you can better spend on more direct work activities. One way to use this time more efficiently is to file your emails before you even open them, so you can decide on which ones need urgent opening, and which ones could wait till you have a spare fifteen minutes.

Most e-mail software allows you to set rules for incoming emails. The system will direct emails into folders you have set up, depending on the rules you apply. For example, you could set up folders based on words contained in the subject matter or the address of the sender or key words in the message text. Once the incoming emails have been sorted for you, you can choose when to open them, based on the importance of each folder. This same process can be used for outgoing messages, so that you can automatically file into folders you created in point 5 earlier. Check your software for this and other time saving options.

9. Make sure you are legal 

This is a major topic! A whole new industry has been spawned to keep watch over the legality of email transmissions. Simply put, take extra care when sending words which have not been authored by you, including the common practice of “forwarding” messages sent to you. Copyright on e-mail belongs to the writer, not the recipient. If you have any doubt about forwarding another person’s message – then don’t.

10. Filter messages to get rid of unwanted bulk mail

Again, use the features of your software to help remove bulk or junk mail before it reaches your in box. Most software will allow you to filter out junk mail based on options such as blocking BCC (blind copies), blocking mail from certain addresses (lists created by you or your organization), colour coding junk mail so you can recognize it or moving junk mail into separate folders so you can deal with it later.

Once again, it is a matter of knowing what your software can do (usually we use only 20% of software capacity!!!) and using it to save us time, effort and energy.

One final Word

Finally, think before turning to e-mail. Although it is often seen as informal communication - quick, efficient and immediate - to many (especially those whose careers began pre the e-correspondence revolution) email is not the medium for well-mannered communicators.

Before you send an e-mail, ask yourself what is the recipient expecting. In some cases, snail mail is a better option, especially if speed is not the primary issue. Examples where traditional mail is better include:

* Client presentations or proposals

* Formal requests or invitations

* References

* Bulky correspondence (eg reports)

* When you are trying to make a good impression

 Email can be either a blessing or a curse of the modern workplace. Either take control over your email jungle by applying these ten tips or keep cursing each time another email hits your inbox. The choice is yours!