I have been reading a few articles recently on e-mail etiquette and thought that it was about time I described how I use e-mail.
Inbox Zero
You can read the concept behind this here.
My inbox is normally empty. If you have sent me an e-mail and then pop over for a chat to chase me up and donât see the mail in my inbox, donât panic, if itâs not in my inbox it means that it has been filed, if required it will be on my To-Do list (http://www.RememberTheMilk.com) or will have an Outlook reminder tagged on it.
Yes I do have two separate systems, this is due to client confidentiality issues. I use a single system where possible.
Conversely, if you see my inbox is full, donât panic, it just means that Iâm busy working and have decided to not process my inbox at the moment, Iâll get to it when I have some more bandwidth.
Priorities
As alluded to above, I donât slavishly watch my inbox, I deliberately ignore it at times. If Iâm really busy Iâll even close Outlook/GMail/Pidgin/Blackberry to ensure that Iâm not disturbed. If something is urgent and I havenât responded, IM me, or call me or come and see me. (I may tell you that I canât respond at the moment, but at least you will know Iâm alive!)
I have some colleagues that use out of office responses when they are âbusyâ?. I donât like this as it just adds to the ânoiseâ?. I may however book a meeting with myself to block out my calendar to prevent meeting requests when Iâm working to a deadline.
Efficiency
To make e-mail work best:
- Have a meaningful subject.
I will read the âblankâ? subject emails last! - Have a âmanagement summaryâ? at the top of the e-mail that includes what if anything you expect me to do and when.
- Be concise.
If I know it will take me 10 minutes to read the body of the e-mail, Iâll do it later unless you grab my attention quickly (see my previous bullet)
This is one of the common comments on the e-mails that I send, they appear to be quite âterseâ?, this is not deliberate itâs my attempt at concise. - Carbon Copy (CC)
If you are just sending me a mail for âinformationâ? CC me rather than sending it TO me, it will get automatically filed into my CC folder which will get processed after my inbox.
Responses
If you must, feel free to send me a âThanksâ? e-mail but it is not expected, I only send these occasionally, again to cut down on the ânoiseâ?. I canât think of the last time I sent a âYour Welcomeâ? e-mail, although I do really appreciate you all!
