Are you tired of searching for e-mail messages you know are
‘somewhere?” Is your electronic “In Box” full of outdated
messages? Do you frequently get ultimatums from your IT
department to “clean up your act?”
Love it or hate it—or both—e-mail is increasingly the primary method for communicating in today’s digital world, at work and at
home. Research shows that introducing
e-mail into a company increases printing by
40 percent. Let’s face it, sometimes paper is
highly practical. Complex proposals,
for example, often require discussions
where you need a printed
copy that result in physical notes, making the electornic mail less valuable than the printed version.
On the other hand, printing out everything
is not likely a good solution. The key
to managing e-mail is determining when to
keep a hard, paper copy and when to keep an
electronic copy. In some situations, keeping both may be
practical. In the case described above, for example, the printed
version has value for discussion, and the electronic version
has value for creating new versions after the discussion. In
either event, following the principles below will improve
communication and increase productivity.
5 Tips for Sending E-mail Your Recipients Will Love
1. Use the Subject line to clearly describe the topic of
your e-mail. This is helpful for the recipient, and for
you if you want to find a message you’ve sent.
2. For a lengthy or complicated e-mail, create
the e-mail in your word processing program
and then copy to your e-mail. If you have an e-mail
glitch during the sending process, you can easily retrieve your
message from the word processing program.
3. When replying to any e-mail, attach enough of the old
message for the recipient to remember the content of the
original e-mail, but delete unnecessary information or
duplication.
4. Avoid sending e-mail attachments whenever possible.
Receivers are becoming more reluctant to open attachments
due to the increasing prevalence ofviruses. In some instances,
you may send an attachment, and include the attachment in
the body of the e-mail, with the explanation that the attachment
will have better formatting.
5. Consider using your contact management software (such as
ACT!) to send all of your outgoing e-mail. With many programs,
you can attach your outgoing e-mail messages to the
recipients, and other related contacts, and they will automatically
appear in the Out Box of your e-mail program.
5 Tips for Managing Your Incoming E-mail
1. To avoid an overflowing e-mail In Box, create folders. For
example, you might have folders for each of your reports, for
each project or job, for a committee and for subjects of particular
interest, such as safety or tool inventory.
2. Whenever you open your incoming e-mail, apply The FAT
System™: F stands for File, A for Act and T for Toss.
3. If you aren’t sure you need it, toss it! Unlike a paper waste-basket,
you can always retrieve e-mail from an un-emptied electronic trash or deleted items folder by using the “Find Message” feature available in most e-mail programs.
4. Apply the “2-Do Rule” whenever possible. If you can reply
in 2 minutes, then do it right away. It will take longer to file it
and retrieve it again later, so why not do it now?
5. For e-mail that takes more time to reply, either leave them in
Inbox or file in an appropriate folder such as “Action” or “Reply.”
Managing your e-mails before they get out of hand can save you
time and money, not to mention increase your productivity, By
following these 10 simple tips, you can make your e-mail easier
to manage!
About the Author
Barbara Hemphill is one of the country’s leading organizational
experts. She is the best-selling author of the Kiplinger book
series “Taming the Paper Tiger” and “Love it or Lose it.” She is
a past president of the National Association of Professional
Organizers and past spokesperson for Allied Van Lines.
