Managing Email
Lisa J. Downs
American Society for Training & Development
Email Productivity Tips
Minimize the distraction of a pop-up box by shutting it off or setting it to check every hour. Take action on each email: Delete it, file it, or reply/act.
Use templates and autoresponders for standard messages.
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Email Productivity Tips (Cont’d.)
Turn emails into calendar appointments or tasks; avoid using your Inbox as a “to-do” list. Write less text; keep messages short and to the point. Focus on easy emails with quick replies first.
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Email Productivity Tips (Cont’d.)
Use rules to automatically send certain messages into designated folders. Designate blocks of time in your schedule to check email; start with 3–4 times a day and gradually reduce it to 2–3 times.
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Effective Email Formatting
Proofread your emails before sending. Use copy and paste commands as you would in word processing to save time. Write descriptive subject lines with calls to action to catch attention and for ease of filing.
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Effective Email Formatting (Cont’d.)
If forwarding a message, put your comments at the top for clarity. Use “bcc” for bulk emails and be careful to reply to only the person you intend. Avoid unnecessary punctuation and acronyms.
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Keep in Mind…
The more you follow good email formatting and etiquette, the more likely you will receive it in return; this increases efficiency. Setting expectations is important; get others in the habit of knowing when you will be processing your email.
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Additional Time Savers
Use a tray on your desk for paper items associated with email you want to send; label this accordingly. Sort incoming messages by subject or author to process related email together.
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Additional Time Savers (Cont’d.)
Unsubscribe or remove your email address from unwanted or unread mailings. Keep an address book to save email addresses.
Delete messages with attachments after you save them to your hard drive; they take up a lot of server space and this will prevent future problems.
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Points to Remember
You control your email: when you process it, how you use it, and setting these expectations with others. By checking email only at certain times of the day, you may find that many issues will be resolved on their own.
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