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VA Healthcare Network Upstate New York - VISN 2
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E-Mail Overload
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E-mail is still as instant and direct as it used to be, except now most business people are suffering from a flood of incoming messages. The important message you send usually faces plenty of competition for the attention of your intended recipient.
Part of the solution involves making some changes to our own expectations and practices. Here are 10 common sense rules to consider whether you're the sender or the recipient.
For Senders:
- Judge the book by its cover. Selecting a Subject line for your message can be as important as the message content itself. Choose a subject line that gives a sense of what's coming before it's even read. Many recipients sort messages alphabetically by title, so strategically plant a key idea from the message in the very first word of the Subject.
- Reply to Some vs. All. It's nice to use Reply To All to be inclusive, but sometimes all you need are a few key players. There's no rule against whittling down the recipient list of an e-mail discussion.
- No reply at all. Sometimes sending a message to say "Thanks" is no thanks when the person on the other end is drowning in messages.
- Location, location, location. Next time you begin a group discussion by e-mail, consider whether it's the right place to do that. If the group is small, if the participants are asynchronous (hard to get together all at once), if another venue is impractical, these are good indications to proceed. However if there are dozens of uninvolved others on the message, consider another discussion route.
- Make it snappy. Be brief. Get your point across and get out of there.
For Receivers:
- Touch it once. Once you read a message, don't wait until later to take action: reply, take action, file it, or delete it. Office efficiency experts tell us handling documents twice is a productivity waster, whether you're dealing with magazines, memos, or e-mails.
- Set up a filing cabinet. E-mail attachments offer the ability to combine a needed document with the message that puts the attached document into context. Consider setting up a filing system separate from your Inbox so messages with documents to retrieve later are separate from incoming mail.
- Lay low. If you're subscribed to electronic mailgroups you no longer need or find useful, ask to be removed.
- Out of office. The most depressing thing about being away for a couple days is the pile of messages you have to return to. Use your Out Of Office feature to warn others you'll have some catching up to do when you return.
- The Golden Rule. If your load of e-mail's got you down, remember that one sure way to lighten your Inbox is to send fewer messages yourself! Consider using the telephone, adding an agenda item to an upcoming meeting, or meeting somebody at their office.
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| Reviewed/Updated Date:
February 7, 2007
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