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6 Tips to Controlling Your E-Mail (Before It Controls You!)
I bet you now receive ten times more e-mail messages than snail mail. Manage your e-mails as you would other correspondences that cross your desk: Handle it only once! Excerpt from Dr. Julie Miller’s Fourth Edition, Business Writing That Counts!
Controlling Your Time
I bet you now receive ten times more e-mail messages than snail mail. Manage your e-mails as you would other correspondences that cross your desk: Handle it only once!
Here’s how:
1. Promise yourself to check e-mail twice daily.
Time management of your e-mails remains crucial for sanity. Checking in twice a day allows you to handle your messages in a timely and professional manner without being chained to your computer. E-mail messages, like phone messages, should be returned within twenty-four hours.
2. Manage your e-mail.
As you scan your e-mail, decide whether you will:
• Delegate: Not your area of expertise? Forward it on!
• Delete: Older than three months? It’s history…or at least material for a reference file.
• Do it: Rule of thumb: if it will take less than two minutes, respond.
• Defer: Assign a date and time to respond later.
Use Outlook to set this up.
3. Create a folder per project; create files with the same names.
Time management demands you control the onslaught. Organize data into files and folders, then prioritize folders according to the project you’re working on or the message frequency from one client. For project management, an efficient system is mandatory. Also, on important e-mails, consider cc’ing yourself so your files will contain complete sets of key correspondences.
4. Answer briefly—others will learn to expect it.
Get in the habit of writing concise, to-the-point messages but with a personal touch. You’ll quickly teach others not to expect a long, detailed answer from you. Wayne McKinnon gives this tip in his book, The Complete Guide to E-Mail: For a brief response, just writing in the subject line may be enough. You can insert the letters EOM (end of message) followed by brackets.
5. Turn on an Out of Office responder in your absence.
Courtesy counts!
6. Consider using this checklist to remind yourself about what’s important.
Accuracy
• Are all spelling, punctuation, and usage mistakes eliminated?
• Are your facts correct?
• Have you double-checked included dates, days, and times?
• Are all promised documents attached?
Relevance
• Is the content of your message business-related?
• Is the e-mail appropriate to send to everyone on your list?
• Have you met all confidentiality requirements?
• Does your tone match the subject and your audience?
• Is the subject line appropriate for your e-mail’s content?
• Does any part of your message seem emotionally charged or insulting?
• Have you included everything your audience needs to know?
Does your e-mail follow a logical progression?
Is your e-mail too long or too short?
Is your material timely?
How do you feel when you read your e-mail?
Do all recipients know what they are supposed to do in response to your e-mail?
Dr. Julie Miller is a business writing expert, consultant, author, speaker, trainer, and coach. Dr. Miller, founder of Business Writing That Counts!, works with corporations, organizations, educational institutions, and professionals to improve the quality of their writing. Visit her website at www.businesswritingthatcounts.com to sign up for her FREE e-newsletter and you’ll also receive her FREE E-mail Proofreading Checklist: 16 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Hitting ‘Send’.Here’s how:
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