Managing E-Mail Overload

E-mail can promote better communication, but somehow it has become a problem, causing the loss of time and productivity. The question is, how do we take control of e-mail and make it work for us? Here's some advice on coping with the glut of e-mail:

Use the delete key.

Often you can tell by the first sentence if the email is useful or not. If it's not obviously useful, delete it or come back to it later.

Respect the recipient's time.

Keep your own e-mails short and to one topic because they are likely to be deleted before anyone gets to topic two or three. Resist the urge to e-mail interesting Web discoveries to others.

Reply to sender, not everyone on the string.

Replying to all recipients of an e-mail probably wastes more time and e-mail storage space than any other bad e-mail habit.

Use the three e-mail rule.

If a problem isn't solved in three e-mails, pick up the phone.

Remember, people scan their inbox by subject.

Make your e-mail subject heading specific enough that your readers can decide whether it's relevant. The best way to do this is to summarize your message in your subject. Or better yet, use the subject line for the whole message.

Give your reader full context at the start of your message.

Too many messages forwarded to you start with an answer to a previous e-mail -- "Yes I agree, apples are definitely the answer" -- without offering context. We must read seven included messages, notice that we were copied, and try to figure out what this discussion is about.

When you must copy lots of people...

...(a heinous practice that should be used sparingly), mark out why each person should care. Just because you send a message to six poor coworkers doesn't mean all six know what to do when they get it. Ask yourself why you're sending to each recipient, and let them know at the start of the message what they should do with it. An unexpected benefit: this also forces you to consider why you're including each person.

Make action requests clear.

If you want things to get done, say so. Clearly. There's nothing more frustrating as a reader than getting copied on an e-mail and finding out three weeks later that someone expected you to pick up the project and run with it. Summarize action items at the end of a message so everyone can read them at one glance.

Separate topics into separate e-mails...up to a point.

If someone sends a message addressing five topics, some of which you can respond to now and some of which you can't, consider sending a message for each topic. That way, each thread can proceed unencumbered by the others. On the other hand, sometimes the problem is the opposite — sending a dozen messages a day to someone can be overwhelming, even if the intent is to reduce this by creating separate threads. A phone conversation — with a checklist to guide you — will save both of you time and prevent confusion.

Make your e-mail one page or less.

Make sure the meat of your e-mail is visible in the preview pane of your recipient's mailer. That means the first two paragraphs should have the meat. Many people never read past the first screen, and very few read past the third.

Understand how people prefer to be reached, and how quickly they respond.

Some people are so buried under e-mail that they can't reply quickly. If something is important, use the phone or make a follow-up phone call. Do it politely; a delay may not be personal. It might be that someone's overloaded. If you have time-sensitive information, don't assume people have read the e-mail you sent three hours ago rescheduling the meeting that takes place in five minutes. Pick up the phone and call.

How to read and receive e-mail.

Setting a good example only goes so far. You also have to train others explicitly. Explain to them that you're putting some systems in place to help you manage your e-mail overload. Ask for their help, and know that they're secretly envying your strength of character.

Check e-mail at defined times each day.

We hate telemarketers during dinner, so why do we tolerate e-mail when we're trying to get something useful done? Turn off your e-mail "autocheck" and only check e-mail two or three times a day, by hand. Let people know that if they need to reach you instantly, e-mail isn't the way. When it's e-mail processing time, however, shut the office door, turn off the phone, and blast through the messages.

Use a paper "response list" to triage messages before you do any follow-up.

The solution to e-mail overload is pencil and paper? Who knew? Grab a legal pad and label it "Response list." Run through your incoming e-mails. For each, note on the paper what you have to do or whom you have to call. Resist the temptation to respond immediately. If there's important reference information in the e-mail, drag it to your Reference folder. Otherwise, delete it. Zip down your entire list of e-mails to generate your response list. Then, zip down your response list and actually do the follow-up.

Train people to be relevant.

If you are constantly copied on things, begin replying to e-mails that aren't relevant with the single word: "Relevant?" Of course, you explain that this is a favor to them. Now, they can learn what is and isn't relevant to you. Beforehand, tell them the goal is to calibrate relevance, not to criticize or put them down and encourage them to send you relevancy challenges as well. Pretty soon, you'll be so well trained you'll be positively productive!

Answer briefly.

When someone sends you a ten page missive, reply with three words. "Yup, great idea." You'll quickly train people not to expect huge answers from you, and you can then proceed to answer at your leisure in whatever format works best for you. If your e-mail volume starts getting very high, you'll have no choice.

Send out delayed responses.

Type your response directly, but schedule it to be sent out in a few days. This works great for conversations that are nice but not terribly urgent. By inserting a delay in each go-around, you both get to breathe easier. (In Outlook, choose Options when composing a message and select Do not deliver before. In Eudora, hold down the Shift key as you click Send.)

Ignore it.

Yes, ignore e-mail. If something's important, you'll hear about it again. Trust me. And people will gradually be trained to pick up the phone or drop by if they have something to say. After all, if it's not important enough for them to tear their gaze away from the hypnotic world of Microsoft Windows, it's certainly not important enough for you to take the time to read.

* Based on advice by Steven Robbins in his book "Tips for Mastering E-mail Overload - HBS Working Knowledge." This article originally appeared on the Ohio Education Association website, www.ohea.org. We are reprinting it on NEANow with OEA's permission.