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Help Others Manage Their Daily Baragge of Email and Save Time Too

Written by: Stephanie Calahan

Article Overview: Computers have made our world a much more information rich society, but they have also created so much information that it is sometimes hard to track it all. Most executives average about 100 pieces of e-mail per day! Are you adding to that barrage? According to the National Association of Professional Organizers, e-mail has added one to two hours to each person's work schedule per day compared to 10 years ago. Here are 10 tips to use when you are the sender of e-mail to save you and the receiver time.

Help Others Manage Their Daily Baragge of Email and Save Time Too

Computers have made our world a much more information rich society, but they have also created so much information that it is sometimes hard to track it all.

Most executives average about 100 pieces of e-mail per day! Are you adding to that barrage? According to the National Association of Professional Organizers, e-mail has added one to two hours to each person's work schedule per day compared to 10 years ago. Here are 10 tips to use when you are the sender of e-mail to save you and the receiver time.

1. Use Templates and Stationary!

If you frequently send the same type of email, save a copy as a draft or template that you can reuse over & over (changing the specifics such as name, date and amount for each email). Many e-mail programs have the ability to save pre-formatted stationery you can recall over and over. Need help learning how to do that? Let us know!

2. Spamming is Not Advised

Blatantly promoting your business by posting an advertisement to a discussion group is bad form, unless it is clearly an accepted use and you have cleared it with the moderator (if there is one) first. Otherwise, you are "spamming." Offer information of value, rather than simply inviting people to your web site. Always offer readers the opportunity to get off of your distribution list.

3. Slow the Electronic Conversation Down

If the matter you are replying to is not urgent, reply right away (procrastination is never good), but schedule it to go out a few days later. Sometimes e-mail conversations can start going back and forth so quickly that full conversations begin - that is not the purpose of e-mail.

4. Use Meaningful Subject Lines

Specific subject lines allow the reader to process email faster. Since the majority of working individuals receive a number of e-mails, help them know what you need from them before they open the e-mail. Below are sample key words to begin your email:

* Response Needed: . . .

* URGENT: (but make sure it is truly urgent --
if every email you send has this heading, it will become pointless.)

* Project ____: . . .

* Reply Requested By mm/dd/yy: . . . (could also be written as RB mm/dd/yy)

* ACTION NEEDED: . . .

* Meeting Rescheduled: from mm/dd/yy to mm/dd/yy

5. Follow with Summary Information in the Body of Your Mail.

After using the key words to start the e-mail, make sure to follow up with summary detail. For example, saying "Action Needed" gives very little information. However, if you say "Action Needed: XYZ Project Deadline Deliverables" lets the person know the context of the request.

Use BLOT Statements BLOT = Bottom Line on Top -- It means, put the main issues of the e-mail in the first 2 lines of writing. Make the action items clear at the beginning of the email.

6. Don't Automatically CC Everyone

Consider who really needs the information you are conveying.

7. Request Replies to Sender Only

When sending to a large group for input, request that those receiving the e-mail only reply to the sender. As the sender, you coordinate the responses and send in a master e-mail. This eliminates multiple e-mail strings from forming.

8. Avoid Cyber-speak

Not everyone is familiar with the cute acronyms used in e-mail correspondence, such as IMHO (in my humble opinion) or FWIW (for what it's worth). Performing a mental translation each time slows down the reader. Focus on making your communication easy to read rather than difficult.

9. Be Careful with Punctuation

A lot of periods can separate thoughts..... but use a lot of exclamation marks and it looks like you're angry!!!!!!!!!! How does a line of question marks look ??????? You might not intend strong emotion, but the other person might think you do.

10. Consider Before You Write

Consider carefully what you write; it's a permanent record and can be easily forwarded to others. Never accuse people, call them names, suggest they aren't being smart or criticize their spelling. Assume their intentions are genuine. Avoid sarcasm. Be polite and assertive if necessary (i.e. to spammers) but not vindictive.

By following these tips you will increase the efficiency of your communication and improve the speed with which your emails are read and responded.

Related Articles
  Time Management in an Instant by Karen Leland and Keith Bailey
  Dealing with Email Overload – Tips and Best Practices
  Happy About an Extra Hour Every Day by Nicolas Soergel
  Can you use webmail for email marketing?
  From Chaos To Control

Article Tags: 10 years, association of professional organizers, barrage, conversations, discussion group, distribution list, e mail, electronic conversation, email response, few days, key words, mail programs, national association of professional organizers, procrastination, promoting your business, spamming, specifics, stationery, subject lines, urgent reply



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