18

Jan

E-mail Is a Waste of Time

Posted by: Jeremy Reither

Why do we spend so much time e-mailing? Partly because the way people generally communicate via e-mail is inefficient and ineffective, which generates more e-mails, which makes e-mail a massive time drain. But the problem isn’t e-mail, it’s people. Laziness, complacency, and poor communication skills contribute to the issue, all of which are compounded by the sheer number of e-mails in peoples’ inboxes. But familiarity with (and adherence to) these general e-mail “best practice” guidelines can make a positive impact on productivity, customer service quality, and even employee morale.

Share these guidelines with your employees, and set standards of communication within your company.Sending An E-mail

• Re-read your e-mail before you click ‘send’: Especially when communicating with clients or supervisors, it’s important that you double-check your writing to make sure your point is clear and concise. If you have trouble making sense of your message, you can guarantee other people will.
• Use descriptive subject lines: People scan subject lines before the open e-mails. Make sure yours is clear and concise. Instead of “Meeting” try “HR Meeting: Tues, Feb 9, 8am, Rm 202.”
• Don’t cc: the entire world: Try to make sure that the people receiving your e-mail are actually stakeholders in the discussion. If they’re not affected by the outcome of the discussion, leave them off. Some people may be interested in the outcome of a discussion, but not the actual discussion. Consider leaving these people off the cc: list until the final ‘Summary’ e-mail is sent.
• Name the people you need to reply: Don’t assume that everyone who’s reading the e-mail knows who you’re addressing each question to. If specific people need to reply, say who they are.
• Give a deadline for the expected action: Tell the recipients when you need a response. Often people prioritize their actions by deadline. If you give someone an open window, expect them to take advantage of it. Don’t rush them if you aren’t rushed yourself, but set timeliness expectations.
• Use bullet points or numbered lists: Breaking up your message into logical pieces allows people to do three things: (1) scan the e-mail easily; (2) grasp each of the points being made; (3) easily reply to items individually. Wherever possible, avoid paragraph format in favor of bulleted/numbered lists.

Responding to an E-mail

• Paraphrase / Summarize: Re-state any major points in your reply (even though they might be in the thread below). This allows readers to check each others’ understanding of the topic. It also reduces the amount of scrolling required to find key points in an e-mail thread.
• Address questions in the same order they’re asked: If someone sends you a bulleted list of 3 questions, if possible, you should reply with 3 answers in the same order…even if you don know the answer to each question. For longer lists, reply to only the items that apply to you, but number the responses, and keep the order. Don’t hesitate to turn someone’s paragraph-format e-mail with a bulleted or numbered list of responses. This way you’re turning a poorly constructed e-mail conversation into a more efficient one.
• Be clear about to which point/question you’re responding: If numbering your responses isn’t an option, start each response with a lead that identifies the question being answered. For example, rather than saying “I think we should do it,” say “Regarding the silent auction, I think we should do it,” or “Silent auction: I think we should do it.”

Forwarding an E-mail

• Summarize the e-mail you’re forwarding: One of the most useless forms of communication is the forwarded e-mail with no explanation. Next is the forwarded e-mail with “FYI” as the explanation. Especially for longer e-mails, be sure to summarize what it is the person may be interested in – and why. Forwarded e-mails are the first to get deleted, so be sure you’re clear about why you’re forwarding something – especially if you expect someone to take action on it.

The more e-mails a person has to respond to, the less time he/she is willing or able to spend writing each one. Poorly written e-mails are a big part of the problem; they cause misunderstandings and require clarifications, which means, yes, more e-mails. Sometimes the answer is just to pick up the phone, but most of the time a well-written e-mail can eliminate the time-consuming back-and-forth…and make e-mail an efficient tool again.