Winning the Email Battle

The first thing to do in winning the email battle is to decide to do something about it; to decide to win.

That done, you'll invest a bit of time in winning the battle.

In fact you had better do something about it now, because:
The amount of information is increasing exponentially year by year!
What will happen if you don't do something about it?

Your productivity & performance will continually worsen,
and your increasing stress level will make you ill & angry!

Here's what needs to be done:

1. Use the Software
   Make sure you have the best system for email overload.
   Turn off the Alert.
   Use the Spam Filter.
   
2. Get Training
   Get quality training on how to effectively use your email software, and get more general training for yourself and colleagues (the people from whom you're likely to receive emails), on how to use email effectively.
   
3. Make Sure it's Relevant
   Work out your:
   - Explicit Goals & Objective (EGOs).
   - Critical Success Factors (CSFs).
   - Critical Current Issues (CCIs).
   - Knowledge & Competency Areas (KCAs)
   - Underlying Aims & Interests (UAIs)
   Although subject to change, this is your Relevance Base.
   It's only these things in which you're interested.
   Delete everything else.
   
4. Be a Good Sender/Giver
   - Is it relevant for and needed by the target recipient,
   and those copied?
   - Avoid sending a Victorian Novel!
   - Have a succinct, pithy, stand-alone, action-oriented heading.
   - Not more than five paragraphs, and keep them short.
   - Use good English. Make it easy to read & understand
   - Review for logical sequence and errors before sending.
   - Never send anything angry, impolite, confrontational or insensitive.
   - Action orientation: what do you want the recipient to do?
   - Minimise "For Your Interest".
   - Put yourself in the target recipient's shoes.
   
5. Use Information Net-Value
   Use Info Net-Value and evaluate each email; what's the cost v. benefit of receiving it?
   What's the cost v. benefit for the recipient of those you send?
   What's the cost v. benefit of social chat and news groups?
   
6. Manage the In-Box
   Manage your In-Box through the following:
   - Look at emails not more than four times per day.
   - Review for urgent and/or easy-to-deal-with according to the subject heading or sender.
   - If urgent and/or easy to handle, do now.
   - If not urgent or easy to do look at later, and handle all of these in chunks - not one at a time.
   - By end of day should not have more than ten open items, and these not because of delay but because of needing further information before replying or actioning.
   - All the rest should be deleted, filed or archived.
7. Assure Security and Regulatory Needs
   Delete anything from unknown sources unless you're sure it's
   (a) relevant, and (b) not malware, spam or phishing.
   Don't open an attachment unless you're sure it's
   (a) legitimate, and (b) needed.
   Don't delete anything that may be needed later on for regulatory reasons.
   

Lastly, don't be over-reliant on e-mail. It's a double-edged sword. People like the personal touch, and it may be a lot more effective if not enjoyable. Use the phone, or go and see, or write an old-fashioned note.