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Email overload eats into our day and uses time which we could devote to other activities. At a networking meeting today I asked several senior business executives what they would do with an extra hour a day. Here are there responses:
What would you do with an extra hour a day? That is what you can easily save yourself if you take control of your inbox rather than letting it control you and your day!
This weeks tips have focused on how to reduce the number of rounds of email ping-pong as a way of saving time see http://twitter.com/emaildoctor
Tags: email addiction, email best practice, email overload
One cause of email overload is being a slave to email at the expense of other communications media. As Peter Drucker once said ‘the new information technology… Internet and e-mail… have practically eliminated the physical costs of communications.’ But is this at the expense of the quality of communications?
When was the last time you talked rather than emailed someone? Email is just one of a glittering array of communications media which range from Facebook, text and instant messaging to old fashioned talking be it either face-to-face or through Skype.
After text and IM, email carries the least ammount of contextual information. You have no idea whether I am crying or laughing. Some would argue that you can add emotions with emoticons. But these too can be misinterpreted and most business people regard them as unprofessional and sloppy.
A conversation is very often worth nine rounds of email ping-pong at the end of which the matter is probably still unresolved. Indeed, using an alternative communications channel can be a very effective way of reducing email overload.
Some tasks for which an alternative to email would be more effective include:
Why are we so locked into email? Is it cultural, personality related (eg introverts find email easier than talking). Is it generational (there evidence that Generation Y pefer social media to email)?
To check just how addicted you are to email use our Email Addiction benchmarking tool.
This week’s tips on how to reduce email overload are focused on choosing an alternative to email to ensure that you convey the right message right first time.
Meanwhile, I’d love to hear your opinion on why you feel we are so addicted to email which drives up email overload and also when you have found an alternative to email more effective.
Tags: email addiction, email best practice, email overload
Will you be checking your email over the Easter break? Or will you be bold and switch off completely in order to recharging your batteries and have quality time with your family and friends? After all that is what holidays are about.
Checking your emails constantly is a sure way to drive up the stress and disrupt a holiday. It is not unheard of for a husband/wife to throw their other half’s expensive iphone/Blackberry in the sea. That’s a bit of a waste.
One way to help you resist the email honey trap is to leave your smart phone (Blackberry, iphone etc) safely at home and take just a conventional mobile phone.
If you can not make that leap of faith (and I confess I can not always) then reduce the number of times you check your email to at most twice (morning and evening). The best being once a day at the end of the day with drink in your hand. You will surprised at how much less pressing the emails look when seen through a glass of wine!..
What will you be doing whilst on leave – checking or going cold turkey?
Tags: email addiction, email best practice
There is a disparity between the sender and recipient’s perception of when a reply is expected.
Research for clients and ‘Brilliant Email’ found 42% of recipients feel that a reply is expected within a couple of hours and only a third perceive that within a day is acceptable. When the results were presented to the management team in this organisation they were visibly shocked at the disparity as they thought everyone understood that half a day was an acceptable response time.
Many managers in other organisations often comment on how they are surprised by how quickly people respond saying that their email was not that urgent and that they did not need the information for a day or two. Equally there are those who do expect an instant reply. Journalists are often the worst, expecting an instant reply. Sometimes it’s acceptable when in response to a news story. Other times it is just because of bad planning and a deadline creeping up.
PAs often tell me that their manager expects an instant reply.Yet when challenged about whether they have discussed what is a realistic reply time few have even discussed this issue.
If you are a manager think about delaying sending non-urgent message until later in the day to allow your team to focus on the real job. With most software you can either use rules or you will find there is a ‘delay delivery function’. Try it and see how productivity improves.
What do you think?
Tags: email addiction, email best practice, email overload
Email is only one of many communications media, yet consistently we seem to default to it. Is it pure either email addiction or lack of understanding about how to communicate effectively?
Increasingly I am asked how to change people’s email behaviour towards talking more and using more effective options.
One way is clearly through training and change management programmes. The other is to produce clear guidelines about what is available and when they are best used.
However, all too often these guidelines are steeped in techno speak rather than features and benefits. From the user’s perspective, with Instant Messaging the recurring question is ‘isn’t this just another way to check up on me and have me respond immediately’?
IM is a powerful way to communicate messages which are here and now, and ephemeral (eg who has an iphone charger, the fire alarm is about to be tested) and not needed as a business record.
One conversation is still often worth nine rounds of email ping pong especially if there is some negotiation involved.
The motto should always be talk first email later.
Some organisation have very successfully tried email free periods. The result is always amazement about how much people learn when when they walk and talk. Perhaps not surprising as email is so devoid of emotions and external contextual information. The added benefit is a reduction in the email overload factor.
What works for you? Should we even be thinking outside the email box?
Tags: email addiction, email overload