If you’ve ever been on a chain corporate email that lasts for days or been frustrated by searching for a particular email by subject line (but it doesn’t exist because the person sending it just replied to another email on a totally unconnected subject), read on! In fact, I would encourage you to send this blasted (but hopefully helpful) rant to your colleagues.
While everyone grumbles about how email is used, the truth is that we all contribute to the madness. If we can all agree that email is a tool to simplify life and we need to keep it simple, we’re already a step ahead. Now all you have to do is establish rules and follow them.
Email personalities….
The Mad “Forwarder”. Everyone has at least one of these, and it’s usually the person a rung or two higher on the food chain. Your boss, a team mate, your client. The mad forwarder constantly sends emails to you without reading it or without context. He/she believes that this is a method of getting things off of his/her desk and onto yours so that they don’t have to deal with it. The Solution: Talk to him/her. Gasp! Ask them to be more specific about action items when forwarding emails. If that doesn’t help, keep a list of the emails (by topic) as they come in and go through the list with them every couple of days.
I Need to CYA. I’m a believer in CYA emails, but it can also lead to long corporate email chains. The Solution: I would strongly suggest an actual discussion with a follow-up CYA email in the form of meeting notes with simple bullet points stating only the facts of the discussion. Don’t be open ended about any of the items. If there are open items that need resolution or discussion, place it in a “for discussion in the next meeting” section.
Email Terminator. You have someone or several someones that you work with who will use email as the only way to communicate. Their expectation is that emails have replaced phone calls; therefore, you should be able to respond immediately. Guess what … they’re wrong! The Solution: Keep doing what you’re doing to manage the flow of email communication. If the email communicator gets irritated and calls or criticizes, let him/her know that any urgent communications should be done in-person or by picking up the phone. Let them know that you’re responsive and that email is a highly faulty means for urgent communications. Lay out scenarios – people could be away from their desk, eating lunch, in meetings, etc.
The Corporate Email Chain. I don’t even need to explain this one. It’s a bit like a boulder rolling down the hill. You can’t stop it, but you can control your own time and contribution. The Solution: Read the initial email (or two) in the chain and then wait it out. You’ll always see a pattern in terms of the length of time it takes. Sometimes it’s a few hours, a day or even a week (you can observe this so that you have a better idea of when to weigh in). When the email chain starts to peter out, you can take the last email, read the whole chain and respond concisely, if necessary. If you believe that there needs to be further discussion, let them know that you’re sending out an outlook invite so that everyone can get in a room for 15 minutes to complete the discussion, create an action plan or divvy up assignments.
The Conversation Starter. Unlike the corporate email chain, this is an email that asks for suggestions and tries to begin a “conversation.” Typically, the sender is someone who doesn’t like to make decisions and is using communication methods as a way of having someone else make the decision, or to get a consensus. Either way, the decision is made for him/her. The Solution: If you are in the position to do so, suggest that getting the subject matter onto the weekly team meetings would be good way to get feedback and also show some initiative on his/her part.
When all is said and done, email is a tool for getting information out, period. Email is not a substitute for getting on the phone or meeting face to face.
Stopping your own madness….
While you may be able to make helpful suggestions for stopping the external madness, you also have to keep your own madness under control. That’s tough considering you could probably make managing your inbox a full-time job. But, remember – that email is not and should not be considered a real-time communication method (even with Crackberries).
1- You don’t have to sit and answer each and every email that comes in. Check every 30, 60 to 90 minutes and do some actual work in between.
2- Have all your newsletters automatically placed in a designated folder.
3- Always include what you expect from others in your emails, including any action items. Be specific on how questions should be addressed. For example: ‘We need to meet and discuss the various items listed in this email. I will be sending a meeting invite shortly.’
4- Always ask yourself if the email is necessary or if it could be placed as an agenda item for the next meeting.
5- Reply to emails within 24 hours.
6- Understand the difference between “To” and “CC.”
7- Be concise and to the point. Remember that people can’t judge tone in an email, and it’s highly possible, even likely, that humor or sarcasm will be lost in translation.
8- Don’t use email to criticize or scold. This is an extremely passive/aggressive way of addressing issues. A good leader or manager would not use this one-way communication method. Instead, have a conversation and find out what happened. If a rebuke is necessary, do it through conversation.
9- Before you “reply to all,” ask yourself if it’s really necessary.
10- For goodness sakes, read your own email before you send it.
Good luck!
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