Rethinking How We Use Email?
With so many choices of communication has the relevance of email gone the way of the typewriter. Well not quite yet. Email is great for some communication. Especially messages that can wait. But not for rapid response, quick fire discussions or spontaneous collaboration or sharing information.
In the '90s, email was a turning point in the workplace. It became the primary communication tool. It’s difficult to remember a time when we did not use email as a way to develop business relationships, have short conversations with teammates or send quick messages to associates. More so than any other tool during that time of tech expansion into the workplace, email changed the way every one of us work. But now, the notion that email is a good tool for information sharing or collaboration is no longer valid.
How many complaints have you heard about the clutter of daily email? Try collaborating with a large group over a long period of time, you’d very soon know what I'm referring to. Cluttered in boxes, lost information, missing documents, out-of-the-office auto responses are real problems which we encounter every day and lead to inefficiencies.
Let’s look at my average day. After coffee, I pick up your phone or crack open my laptop and begin reviewing emails. On an average I have 40 emails to sift through. How many of these are important or relevant to my action points for the morning? It's hard to say at first glance.
My inbox quickly feels like quicksand. Some things are going to get glanced over. Some things are going to disappear. There are a few emails requiring a response or action, lots of spammy promotions, some emails containing links to blogs or articles which I'd like to read later. But now I have run out of time before I've waded through all the junk time. And that important reference article shared by a teammate will have to wait until tomorrow. Which really means that it just got buried. Alive.
Here are some tips in coping with email and avoiding the quicksand.
• 50% can be deleted or filed
• 30% can be delegated or completed in less than two minutes
• 20% can be deferred to your Task List or Calendar to complete later
And tell your boss, emails should never be used for multi-person information sharing or collaboration.
