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!

It’s easy to identify other people’s email lemons, but what about our own?  Are we filling our coworkers’ inboxes with frustration?  Here are 10 ways to find out (and correct the problem):

1.      You send emails without a subject line.  Stop it.  People need subject lines.  It helps them prioritize their inbox and find messages later.  Always make sure you have one – no exceptions.  Keep them short (ideally 5 words or less), specific, and meaningful to both you and the reader.

2.      When you send simple requests via email, the recipient usually writes back with a bunch of questions.  You aren’t giving the recipient enough context for the request.  People like to know why they are being asked to do something.  You also have to put yourself in their shoes by considering their knowledge level on the topic.  What other details might they need to know in order to fulfill this request?  What questions might they have?  Preemptively addressing these details saves a lot of back and forth (a.k.a. distraction) later.

3.      When you send an email to a group, it results in an avalanche of emails.  Either you didn’t give enough context (as described in #2) or you broached a topic that shouldn’t have ever been introduced by email.  Not that meetings don’t have their pitfalls, but they can be a much better forum for kicking off new initiatives, discussing complex problems, or any other topic requiring a healthy exchange of dialogue.

4.      You regularly misspell the recipient’s name.  If you’re this careless with his or her name, you’re probably careless with the rest of your email, too.  Pay attention.

5.      Your emails consist of one long paragraph.  Yes, this depends on how each person pulls up the email, but if your paragraphs are longer than five sentences, you’re probably in the danger zone.  Don’t make your coworkers’ eyes glaze over…make sure you only have one thought per paragraph.

6.      You don’t tell people why you are writing to them…until the end of your email.  Don’t make people wade through sentence after sentence – wondering where it’s all headed.  Tell them why you are reaching out in the first sentence or two and then follow up with the details.

7.      You always use “reply all.”  Just because you have the option doesn’t mean it’s always appropriate to use…in fact, it’s not.  For example, don’t use “reply all” to send personal messages or to point out someone’s mistake.  The key is to be thoughtful and intentional about where you are directing your message.

8.      Your emails have some sort of wallpaper or cutesy background effect.  Get rid of it.  You have plenty of opportunities to show your personality at work – this isn’t one of them.  These effects are distracting to your reader.  Plus, they often screw up the formatting of the whole email trail, which is super frustrating for anyone trying to respond to you.

9.      When you email a group of people, you have a hard time getting a response.  Take a look at one of those emails.  Did you direct it to a specific person, or did you send it to the whole group in hopes that someone would be proactive and respond?  If it’s the latter, you’re setting yourself up for failure every time.  Eliminate the ambiguity.  Address your email to someone.

10.   You’re “too busy” to proofread.  Reading over your email at least once before hitting “send” isn’t optional.  It’s important to give yourself an opportunity to catch potentially embarrassing, confusing typos and grammatical errors, as well as make sure your finished work actually hangs together.  (And did you include your attachments?)

Let’s be kind to our coworkers by minimizing the sour, frustrating “email lemons” we’re putting out there.  This list is a great start in identifying our problem spots, so share it around the office and let me know what you’d like to add to it!

Subject lines get a lot of attention, but there’s another subject issue lurking out there…ready to creep into your email draft or your inbox.  Sometimes it’s sneaky.  Usually it’s innocent.  Frequently it’s frustrating.  The issue?  Managing the subjects of email trails.

The two ways we go awry are “The Mid-Trail Change” and the “The Two-Trail Subject.”  Fortunately, you can avoid them and even correct course if one has already happened to you.  Here’s how:

“The Mid-Trail Change”

How to steer clear: Don’t change subjects within an email trail.  You always want your content to stay true to the original subject line.  If an unrelated question comes up, resist the urge to include it in the email – even if that email is addressed to the people you want to ask.

Mid-trail subject changes are frustrating because:

1.    It’s a pain to hunt down the email later when you or the reader needs to reference it.

2.    When the message hits your inbox (and those of your readers), it’s hard to quickly recognize the true subject of the email.  Inbox management just got less efficient and your new topic may get glossed over.

If a mid-trail change lands in your inbox and it seems like the conversation will continue, just change the subject of the email when you reply.  Be sure to call it out in a friendly way, though.  For example, "By the way, I've changed the subject of this email trail to help us stay organized."

“The Two-Trail Subject”

How to steer clear: Don’t start a new email trail if you’re following up to a previous email.  Otherwise, you’ll have two email trails on the same topic.  If this doesn’t seem like a big deal, then consider:

1.    Your readers won’t be able to instantly reference the important information from your previous note.  They are either going to miss it (and it will take longer to get what you need), or they are going to be annoyed because now they have to find your other note.

2.    When you need to go back and reference the emails on that topic, it will take you longer because part of the conversation will be on one trail and part will be on another.

If you’re on the receiving end of the two-trail subject, you can try to do damage control by only responding to the original note.  If any new information was introduced in the second note, be sure to take it into account, though.

In the famous words of Dale Evans Rogers, “Happy trails to you, ‘til we meet again.”  May all your email trails be happy this week!