Part 1: Why good etiquette saves time
5 tips to help you reduce the flood of emails
Are you drowning in emails? If that’s how it feels, you’re not imagining it.
The volume of emails we have to cope with – to open, read, decide how to handle, reply, forward, file or delete – is skyrocketing. New research shows a 300% increase in the number of new and unread email messages in our inboxes in only the past 4 years (Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox, 29 Nov 2010).
That’s a lot of reading, thinking and typing. It’s also a lot of time. I don’t know about you, but I can think of plenty of better things to do than the electronic version of swimming the breaststroke in quicksand.
“We have gone from the Iron Age to the Industrial Age to the Information Age to the Age of Interruption,” says New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman.
If we’re not interrupting each other, we’re interrupting ourselves by checking messages or emails or news feeds.
The good news? By making a few easy changes, you can stem the rising tide of emails without annoying people. That’s a lot less drastic than deleting them all and claiming the dog ate your hard drive.
Good email etiquette is about respecting other people. It’s about being polite – of course – but it’s also about respecting other people's time. And it can actually reduce the number of emails you send and receive.
Try these 5 strategies and see what happens.
1. Is this email necessary?
Do you need an answer right away? Has the email you sent yesterday turned into a back-and-forth series of new thoughts and questions? Is the topic sensitive? Pick up the phone or walk down the hall and talk to the person. Taking a little time now will save both of you time later.
2. “Cc” is different from “To”
When your name is in the “To” line, the email is one you have to act on. When it's in the “Cc” line, the email should be just for your information. If you need responses from three people, put all three names in the “To” line. If you Cc someone and expect them to respond or otherwise act on your email, you may end up having to chase them for a response.
3. To Cc or not to Cc (that is the question)
Too often, we Cc to cover our backsides, and not because the person to whom we’re copying an email really needs to see it. We may “copy up” to the recipient’s boss to coerce the recipient into complying. DO NOT DO THIS. It’s sleazy. It also gives the recipient permission to do the same thing to other people. Including you. Think before you Cc.
4. Don’t be a spammer
You know who you are. You can’t resist sending everyone in the office photos of cute bunnies in magician costumes and jokes that are variations on “You don’t have to be crazy to work here, but it helps.” STOP IT. Send these to your mother and your cousin in Red Deer if you must, but stop cluttering up your co-workers’ inboxes. If 10 people send a joke once a week, suddenly every person in the office has to deal with 500 extra emails a year.
5. Think before you “Reply All”
“Thanks!” “My shoe size for the bowling league is 9 narrow.” “Fine by me!” Emails may be legitimately circulated to bring everyone up to date on the new project or obtain some sort of answer from everyone. But do you really need to Reply All? Stop and think. Most times, it’s better to reply to the sender only. Your co-workers will thank you.
Just remember. Every time you practise bad email etiquette, you’re giving other people permission to do it, too. And they will.
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Next time: Effective emails in the Age of Interruption, Part 2
Content is King (or Queen): how the right content can mean fewer emails
