Taming Your Inbox Tiger

by Rich Spitz

While there are many articles covering junk email (Spam) these days, I want to focus on efficiently managing the “good email” we get, as well as set down some email etiquette rules to make your legitimate email more effective.  You can take a class to learn the mechanics of how to use Outlook to manage your email, but there are things, important things, they never tell you that will help you do a better job with the tool. Here are a few:

MANAGING EMAIL

Managing the huge amounts of e-mail that many of us receive each day can be quite a task. Try some of the tips on managing email mentioned here and administration of all that e-mail you receive will be a lot easier. 

File it away. If you're just keeping everything in your Inbox, one of these days you are going to get in trouble. At a minimum I recommend having a Read Mail folder so that you can keep your Inbox smaller so it will load faster. It’s so easy to just collect mail without having to sort it. Imagine a file cabinet with no folders! Why would someone consider putting everything in one place. Make folders. Develop whatever system you want. File by Product, File by Customer, File by Line of Business, but do something to allow you to find mail easier. Sub folders (folders within folders) are great too. Just resist the temptation to have too many levels. If you have to go down 13 levels to find something, it’s probably time to think about a different structure.

Filter it down . Almost every mail program allows you to create a filter or a rule. You can make rules do almost anything. To work from the above example, you can set up a rule that if it comes from Client X, file it in the Client X folder. Are rules good for junk email?  Not really.  I use to try and do some spam filtering like if it contains Viagra then delete it, but I got up to 43 rules and just couldn’t keep up with the spammers. There is now plenty of anti-spam software for that. Don’t use your rules trying to fight the spammers; you’ll never be able to keep up. Trying to “blacklist” spammers is also a fruitless task as they constantly use different addresses. Use your rules for filing, moving and the mail you want to keep. You can also get creative and color code your emails. Like if its from Jane then make it Green, etc.

Use multiple e-mail addresses. For submitting information to unknown, or shopping Web sites, as well as newsgroup posting, establish a unique e-mail for each, thus saving your business email address for more important communications.  One option is to use a “disposable email” address. These are ones that may be short lived and for a specific purpose. If you are in control of your own server and email, I might suggest different emails for different vendors. For example, when you buy something at Macys you can use macys@yourcompany.com. This will allow you to track whether Macys is reselling your name and to whom. You can have all the different emails easily forwarded to your one inbox as to not complicate your life more.

EMAIL ETTIQUETTE

Lack of proper email etiquette can be a real detriment to your professional image.  These tips are designed to help you use technology effectively to communicate with others both personally and professionally with knowledge, awareness and courtesy.

Resist Attachments. Yes, they’re easy to do, but they don’t always come out correct. Even though Microsoft Word is a ubiquitous standard, there are many different versions and the lovely font you use may not be on someone else’s computer. Also if the document is less than a page, I would encourage you to just include it in the email. You will be saving everyone more time so that they don’t have to file it and click on it to open. With all the viruses going around these days, sending attachments is something you shouldn’t make habit forming. Yes, there are situations that require attachments, but keep it reasonable.

Watch your Subject line. This is one of the most overlooked options in email today. How many times have you gotten messages with just the name of a company? How about a subject line like “Hello” or “Hi” (Sounds like Spam to me) How about Re:Re:Fw:Act Database? Subject lines are really important and you should give a lot more thought to creating an effective one. It's so helpful to get a message with a subject like: Can you approve this requisition for chairs? A short brief sentence asking for action is a good thing. Let your reader know what you want right up front. Often I get hundreds of emails from the same person. A good subject line really helps to be able to sort or search through the mass of emails.

Use single Subject Messages. Be nice to your recipients.  Create single subject emails every time possible. For example, if you have three separate items to cover, use three separate, shorter messages. By keeping to one topic, the receiver has an easier time to file away, retrieve and forward the message as needed. 

Get to the point. First, state the purpose for the email.  (i.e., This is to…)  Make sure your most important idea appears in the first paragraph. Details should follow in subsequent paragraphs.  Clearly state the next steps the reader should take after reading the email, if such action is required.  It is also a good idea to use bullets and short paragraphs whenever possible. The more succinct you can be the more likely your reader will:

-         Read

-         Understand

-         Act upon your message

Avoid “Flame” Mail.  Relax.  Take a deep breath and avoid the urge to fire off an angry email.  Pick your topics and tone carefully if you want to avoid endless volleys of “flaming” email that fill up your time and your inbox.  Even with the best intentions, email can be a very harsh communication medium.  Misunderstandings that can occur in any form of communication are magnified using email.   With face-to-face dialog you both have the benefit of vocal tone, body language and rephrasing statements to gain a better understanding.  Email does not offer these beneficial signals.  With email, your recipient sits at their desk and forms an opinion without the benefit your additional input and the results can be disastrous.  

Email is a great tool for speedy communications.  Following these simple rules will help you to make the best use of email by making your communications take less of your time and achieve their intended purpose so you do things you really like to do in life.