This is your week to get rid of email overload – once and for all!  Sounds fantastic, right?  Well, just like any other “sounds too good to be true” claim, there’s more to the story.  Getting rid of email overload isn’t a single fight.  It’s an ongoing battle.  BUT, you can arm yourself with habits that significantly reduce the amount of emails you receive.  They’ll put you in better shape for that long-term success, too.  Here are your weapons:

Put communication guidelines in place. When people don’t know who to copy, they tend to copy everyone.  And then reply all takes over, which means you just got 20 messages in your inbox that you don’t need.  If there are certain people or teams you regularly communicate with, then plan a time to sit with them and map out who should be in the “To” and “Cc” fields for your most common topics.  Write it down and make sure everyone has a copy.  As new people come in to the team, make sure they have a copy, too.  Yes, this takes some planning on the front end, but the daily time-savings will more than make up for it.

Send fewer emails.  Remember that the more emails you put out there, the more emails are going to come back to you.  Plus, let’s face it - certain topics or situations just aren’t good for email.  They result in an unproductive flood of messages that weigh down both you and your coworkers.  Before you start writing, ask yourself:

1. Will my message spark more questions than I can preemptively answer in my email?  If so, you may be setting yourself up for an email deluge, especially if the message is to a group of people.  Instead, try to actually talk things through with the person/group.  You can always send a recap for documentation afterwards, if needed.
2. Is there confusion or a misunderstanding between me and the reader?  If so, email often isn’t the best choice.  Something simple could potentially be addressed, but a lot of times it’s much easier to have a quick conversation with the person.  Plus, it’ll save you the time of writing a painstaking explanation that still potentially falls short.

 
If you regularly receive reports or newsletters that aren’t time sensitive, set up a rule so that they bypass your inbox.  That way, you never have to take the extra step of seeing or handling them in your inbox.  You can check them out when it makes sense for your schedule.

If you are on distribution lists that are no longer relevant, take a few minutes to unsubscribe.  It may not seem like much, but every time you keep hitting “delete” for these messages, you are losing time that adds up.  (Don’t believe me? A study by the Danwood Group found that it takes an average of 64 seconds to recover from an email interruption.)  Make a 15-minute appointment with yourself every six months to do this kind of cleanup.

Our jobs evolve.  People come and go.  Given how much change we experience, it’s unrealistic to think that we can get rid of email overload once and for all.  (So stop pressuring yourself already!)  It’s an ongoing battle, but you can stay on the winning side by putting these habits in place.

Do you have a favorite tip for avoiding email overload?  Share it in the comments!

There’s a lot of advice about email out there.  Some of it’s helpful, some of it’s so-so, and some of it is downright problematic.  I usually dismiss the latter, but then I realized that other people might actually be following it – to the detriment of their careers.  Let’s set the record straight on some of these common tips:
 
Flawed advice: Only check email twice a day.
The problem: For many professionals, this suggestion is unrealistic.  While you shouldn’t feel the need to read each email as soon as it arrives, if you only check your inbox twice a day, you may miss out on critical information to keep projects moving or be unaware that priorities have shifted.
The alternative:  Check your email when it makes sense for your situation.  Maybe that’s once an hour.  Maybe it’s four times a day.  It depends on your office environment and expectations.  The key is that you are intentional about it.  You have to instill the discipline to remember, “I am the master of my inbox – not the other way around.”  Here are two simple tips that can help:

• Jot down your day’s to-do list before checking your inbox in the morning.  As new tasks come up during the day, having that concrete list will help you make better decisions about where they fall amongst your priorities.
  
• Turn off the sounds and visual pop-ups that indicate a new message hit your inbox (phone included!).  Otherwise, that urge to immediately see what’s new may take over, quickly making you feel like a human Ping-Pong® ball.
  

Flawed advice: Keep emails to five sentences or less, regardless of the recipient or subject.  (http://five.sentenc.es/ and the like)
The problem: Keeping emails to five sentences is a worthy goal, but sometimes there are perfectly valid reasons for sending a longer one.  Plus, if you have to sacrifice your email’s tone or leave out contextual details in order to be that concise, you aren’t doing yourself or your readers any favors.
The alternative:  To keep your emails easy to follow and easy on the eyes, try these tips:

• The purpose of the email should be clear within the first 1-2 sentences.  Don’t make people wait until the end!  For any subsequent paragraphs, start with the main idea and then go into the details.  Use the closing to make next steps clear.
  
• After you’ve drafted your email, look for words and phrases that can be shortened or eliminated without changing your meaning.  For example, the phrase “in the event that” can be shorted to “if.
  
• Stick to one thought per paragraph and use bulleted lists to make your content more digestible.  People’s eyes glaze over when they see one ginormous block of text.  Give them some white space and they’ll be much more likely to read the email.
  

Flawed advice: Stop using “Reply All.”
The problem: Although “Reply All” gets abused, it can actually be very helpful if you’re trying to maintain a specific distribution list.  It saves time and ensures you don’t accidentally forget someone.  If the people on the email are either engaged in or need to be aware of the conversation, then using “Reply All” is fine.
The alternative:  Be mindful of when you use “Reply All” instead of automatically clicking it.  You want to pay attention to who’s getting the email and ask yourself if they really need it.  Sending a personal message to just one individual?  Probably not a good time to use “Reply All.”  You can check out my other tips to avoid “Reply All” evil here.

By now, you’ve probably noticed a pattern.  Inflexible rules usually don’t work for email.  We’d all love an easy, auto-pilot solution, but as long as we’re communicating with humans, it just isn’t that simple.  Fortunately, we have amazing brains that can help us read the situation and make good decisions.  Let’s use them!

Do you disagree?  Have a tip you want to add?  Please let me know in the comments!

Of all the email lemons, one of the worst is the Swoop & Poop.  These are emails that don’t add value to a conversation and are often sent for selfish or ego-centric reasons.  People swoop in, drop their “gift” in your inbox, and then fly off again.  I’ve observed two varieties:

1. The Brain Dump:  If you’re asked to do something via a lengthy, disorganized, and unclear message, please see my post on a special kind of Swoop & Poop called The Brain Dump.
   
2. The Quick Poop: Email for the sake of email, these are short, unhelpful messages that clutter your inbox.
   

Why do people swoop & poop?  One or more of the following reasons usually applies:

• They mistake sending the email for doing real, thoughtful work.
  
• They believe they are so smart and/or authoritative that the recipients should be happy to have gotten the input – even if it wasn’t actually helpful.
  
• They haven’t given any thought to your current workload and priorities.
  

Here are a few Swoop & Poop examples (I’m sure you can think of more!):

The “hey, I’m here” email
A lot of people do this – especially on weekends – because they think, “Hey guys!  Look at me!  I just dumped another email in your inbox so you’ll think I’m working hard.”  More often than not, the content of the email is meaningless.  Sure, every now and then, you might need to send a strategically timed email to let your boss know you’re working above and beyond, but don’t abuse the tactic.  If you use it too often (and your emails really are meaningless), people will see right through it.

The “let’s look into this” email
Usually sent by a higher up, this email is typically a forward with a short line at the top asking you to dig deeper into whatever messy issue is below.  The problem is that the direction is vague.  There’s no sense of timing, priority level, or the desired outcome, which then causes stress and frustration for the recipient.  The email either gets ignored or results in….you guessed it…yet another email seeking clarification.

We can avoid doing a “swoop and poop” by always asking ourselves, “Does this email add value to the conversation?”  Here are a few ways to tell that you’re adding value:

• You’re responding to a question or request
  
• You’re providing specific direction, including: what needs to be done, why it’s important, and when it’s needed
  
• You’re providing new information; e.g. a proposal for next steps or an update on a conversation with a coworker and how it affects the project 
  

Remember: not every email warrants a response, so please put yourself in the other person’s shoes and think about whether you’d want that message in your inbox.  If you wouldn’t literally poop on someone else’s computer, then don’t do it figuratively either!

I had always been conscientious when it came to email, but working internationally took my focus to another level.  Since email was the main day-to-day communication method, I realized that my words had to work even harder.  I gave a lot of thought to questions like:

How can I build a strong relationship with someone I’ve never met?
How can I save time?
How can my emails serve the other person so that we’ll both get the best outcome?

Over time, I embraced and developed a number of practices that produced fantastic results.  I’m breaking the essentials into a 3-part series – starting with time management.  If you don’t communicate internationally, no problem.  I've found that the best practices from international communication also apply to domestic emails, so these tips will be helpful whether you work in one time zone or ten.

Respond to emails within 24 hours. 
I used to manage a US-based team that was the communication hub for a network of offices around the world.  (We were the corporate office, but we didn’t like to refer to ourselves that way.  It sounded too…corporate.  Maybe there’s another lesson.)  I’ll never forget when the manager of our Hong Kong office told me that we were the best “home office” she had ever worked with.  She was only a few months into the job, but she was already paying us this high compliment.  The main reason?  We were responsive to emails.  When she – or anyone else – reached out to us, we had a response to her inbox by the time she came into work the next day.

The 24-hour responsiveness guideline is a great way to quickly build credibility – and start relationships on the right foot.  You may not have the answer yet, but at least acknowledge the email and buy yourself some time.  No one wants to feel like their message went into a black hole, and this feeling is only exacerbated with large time zone differences.  Being responsive lets people know there is a thoughtful human being behind the computer. 

Preemptively answer questions.
With a little extra thought on the front end, you can often save a whole extra day of back-and-forth.  Think about the questions your readers might have as a result of your email – and go ahead and answer them.  Put yourself in their shoes.  What might they be wondering?  Did you explain why you needed X?  Did you give enough information for them to do Y?  Are there next steps you can communicate as a result of them doing A or B?  Obviously you don’t want to turn your email into a 10-page manual, but preemptively answering basic questions will save time for both of you.

Respond to the real need or question – not just the one that appears at first glance.
Sometimes people have a hard time expressing what they need, and if you read their email too quickly, you’re going to miss the true request.  Especially if they are writing in a non-native language, some deciphering may be involved.  (Before you get judgmental, try writing an email in their native language.)  Other times, they will ask for one thing, but if you take the time to truly understand the email, it’s apparent that they are getting at a separate issue.  It’s time well spent.  You’ll save at least another day of additional back and forth, as well as earn a reputation for being helpful and smart. 


Stay tuned for Part 2 - Clarity!

Don’t you wish this could be your “out of office” message?  The wording may not be professional, but it’s certainly what’s on our minds.  With summer in the US drawing to a close, many of us are squeezing in extra vacation around the long Labor Day weekend.  Be kind to yourself – and others – by putting up an out of office message that sets the right expectations.  Here’s how:

1. Be clear about the time period you’ll be gone.
   
2. State whether or not you’ll be monitoring email.
   
3. Advise who to contact for urgent issues while you’re gone.
   

No need to get cutesy about it – just state the facts and get out of there.  For example:

I’ll be out of the office the week of Sept. 1st and will not have access to email.  For any urgent issues while I’m away, please contact Shirley at Shirley@EmailLemonade.com.  Thank you!

It sounds pretty simple, but people often leave out #2 or #3 (especially when it comes to out of office messages for business travel).  As a result, your coworkers are left in limbo and don’t know how or whether to move forward without you.  You’re probably familiar with that frustration, so avoid making the same mistake.

While setting up a clear out of office message is easy and essential, if you really want to make a graceful exit for a few days, there’s some extra prep required.  Be sure to:

• Give close coworkers a heads up.  Especially if you’re going to be out for 3 or more days, it’s nice to give advance notice to people who work closely with you.  That way, they aren't caught off guard when they receive your out of office message and will have already made contingency plans.

• Tie up loose ends.  If you have a project due while you’re gone, but you can’t wrap it up in time, either find a way for someone else to temporarily take over or notify the relevant parties that you won’t hit the deadline.  The key is to communicate the situation before you leave.  Otherwise, people are going to get a nasty surprise while you’re gone, which hurts your credibility and zaps the goodwill you've established.

If you've covered off these steps, you’re ready to get out there and enjoy your vacation.  (Just remember – if your out of office message says you won’t be accessing or responding to email, don’t do it!)  Have a good one!