Healthy Emailing Habits

Leann how your own emailing habits effect you, and effect you co-workers. Then learns some methods to improve how you email, the effect that email has on you.

Transcript

1. Building a Healthy Relationship, with your E-mail Tech Committee V. Morale Committee: Dawn of Justice.
2. “The first step to solving a problem, is recognizing there is one.” ´ -Abe Lincoln, maybe, but probably not. I don’t know, I’m not great with history.
3. Let's talk about our own problems first (personal, not organizational) ´ What are the symptoms?
4. I can’t deal with my the amount of email I get; I fall behind on my email; things fall between the cracks. Employ a system to help you like Inbox Zero or Getting Things Done. ´ Do not use your inbox as a todo list! ´ For every email, decide to: delete, delegate, respond, defer and do. ´ Don't leave the email client open. ´ Process email periodically throughout the day, perhaps at the top of each hour. ´ First delete or archive as many new messages as possible. ´ Then forward what can be best answered by someone else. ´ Immediately respond to any new messages that can be answered in two minutes or less. ´ Move new messages that require more than two minutes to answer -- and messages that can be answered later -- to a separate "requires response" folder. ´ Set aside time each day to respond to email in the "requires response" folder or chip away at mail in this folder throughout the day. ´ http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/inbox-zero
5. Email is a distraction ´ Turn off email or at least turn off email notifications. Deal with email during set times.
6. I can’t turn off email, my boss needs to reach me Are you sure? ´ Yes. OK ´ Keep email on but no notifications. Then set a “rule” that your boss’s email will notify you. ´ http://www.howtogeek.com/239131/how-to-get-outlook-notifications-for- important-emails-only/
7. I get too much spam/junk/useless email. Try using tools to help you out: ´ Clutter (new outlook tool https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Use- Clutter-to-sort-low-priority-messages-in-Outlook-7b50c5db-7704-4e55-8a1b- dfc7bf1eafa0) ´ https://unroll.me/ ´ Change basecamp/teamwork messages to “digest” ´ Use filters to batch less important emails into a folder to be dealt with you later.
8. Emails ruin my weekend/vacation Don’t look at your email on the weekend. You deserve to enjoy your weekend. Be kind to yourself.
9. Organizational Problems (What do we do poorly) Symptoms:
10. There is too much noise. ´ Do I need to send this email? (Am I just piling on) ´ Do I need to reply all? (Am I saying something to everyone that should only go to one person).
11. This email thread is 439 emails long ´ Perhaps this email should have a been a conversation or online chat (skype).
12. Emailing a Word Document around and using track changes is a nightmare. ´ Yes it is. Rather than pass a document around, perhaps you should have one version of the document in a central place, and then invite your collaborators to edit it. ´ https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Collaborate-on-Word-documents- with-real-time-co-authoring-7dd3040c-3f30-4fdd-bab0-8586492a1f1d
13. People are aggressive in emails. There are fights on my team. ´ Am I “angry emailing”? Should I cool off first and reread/rewrite this email.
14. Schedule meetings sucks ´ If you often schedule meetings with the same people (your team) perhaps you should be using Outlook’s shared calendar. ´ Use reasonable Doodle polls. I’m not sure 40 choices is very helpful. ´ Schedule the next meeting at the end of the current meetings.
15. Those aren’t even words. ´ E-mailing from mobile devices can cause typos; maybe take a second to check if what you wrote actually makes the slightest sense, before you hit send.