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This article
appeared in the Spring 2004 edition of Short
Words, the newsletter of Tim Albert Training.
It was written by Tim Albert and Barbara
Beise.
Barbara Beise is
an associate partner at Accenture.
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How to
handle your email
Tim Albert and Barbara Beise
give some tips
One of the great changes of the past 10 years has been
the amount of time we spend on emails. They may allow us to
put messages across quickly, but they can also waste huge
amounts of time - and create a lot of damage on the way.
Here are nine principles for those who wish to avoid
these pitfalls.
- Don't get too obsessed with the time
management. If you have a relatively small number
(say up to 20 a day) then it probably doesn't matter too
much how you handle your time. If you have more, you
might wish to set aside a block of time each day to deal
with them
- Use triage when you are answering emails
(see panel). Your goal
should be to get as much out of your in-box as quickly as
you can.
- If the emails have built up, work back from the
most recent. Some things that were 'urgent' a
week ago may have resolved themselves. If there has been
discussion, you will be able to get up to date in one go
by reviewing the exchanges.
- Treat email like a note you pass in school.
Make it brief and assume that the one person you
don't want to see it will see it.
- Put your message in your first
sentence. This is a time honoured principle of
good communication. It means, among other things, that
you have to think carefully what you want to say before
going off in a series of rambling asides.
- Be concise. Don't write more than you
have to. Whatever you write should be short and simple.
Take the time to read through before you send.
- Be cool. If you write with any emotion
other than joy - don't send. Emails are now legal
documents - and once written they can be taken up in a
court of law and used against you. Resist the temptation
to be nasty about other people; we are talking about a
number of messages, not a conversation. While email is
good for providing bits of neutral information, it stinks
when it comes to providing nuanced opinion. If in doubt,
leave overnight at least, or get a second opinion.
- If in doubt, pick up the phone. This
can be quicker, easier and better for negotiations.
Another advantage is that you know the person you are
trying to contact has been contacted.
- Hit the right button when you send. The
world is full of stories of parents who have been
mistakenly sent their childrens' love letters, or authors
who have received intemperate opinions of their work.
Avoid adding to them - and be careful to distinguish
between 'Reply' and 'Reply All'.
Email
triage
- DELETE those that
are clearly both unimportant and not urgent - and
SPAM;
- FILE those that
don't need an urgent responses that they can be read and
acted on later;
- READ THROUGH AND
ACT on the rest (important and urgent). Respond
immediately to those that are easy, or that you can
delegate. If you need more time - to do research, or to
consider your position, leave them in your in=box or put
on a task list with a deadline.
Email is good
for:
- asking for
information
- sending straightforward
information
- setting up
meetings
- answering short direct
questions
- delegating simple
tasks
- saying thank you or
congratulations (not used enough!)
Email is bad for:
- Discussing personnel
matters (especially hiring and firing)
- Sharing sensitive
information
- Expressing opinions on
sex, religion and politics
- Trying to establish what
you really think (do this before sending)
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