Sign In Sign-Up

Welcome!

Close

Would you like to make this site your homepage? It's fast and easy...

Yes, Please make this my home page!

No Thanks

  Don't show this to me again.

Close

Managing the E-mail Nightmare

A survival guide for executives ... by Brian Brown

Every day, more of us are being wired and connected into an ever-increasing world of communications. This large network, often referred to as the "Internet," provides us with instant connections to information, resources and people.

Executive managers, previously skilled in the art of managing people and tasks, now find themselves confronted with new technologies such as personal computers and e-mail. Organizations train these managers in the technology of the computer, and provide adequate training on software applications like e-mail and Web browsers.

But technical training is only part of the modern manager's requirements. Perhaps an even greater requirement is the paradigm shift in thinking and management principles that must occur in order to use these new modern technologies.

Old management practices based on handling paper resources do not transfer well to the new electronic media. Each new technology has a certain bias, and in order to use the technology effectively, managers must change their practices accordingly. Marshall McLuhan (1967) stated that "The medium is the message," highlighting that the technological bias of any medium is paramount in understanding its effects.

The Nature of E-mail

E-mail is an asynchronous communication medium. The parties involved are separated in time and space. In other words, there is no direct connection between the sender and receiver. One party writes a message, which is sent to the other party. The second party reads the message and then decides whether to reply. It is an electronic version of letters via the postman. The nature of the medium means there's no interactive dialogue in real-time. Days or even weeks can elapse between a message being sent and its being read.

The elements of face-to-face communication do not exist in e-mail, so much more meaning is attached to what is written in the body of the e-mail. This can often give rise to misinterpretation and resultant abusive e-mail replies. Recipients of e-mail are often required to read "between the lines" in order to derive meaning. This can result in "ping-pong" messages sent back and forward to clarify misunderstandings, leading to wasted time for both the sender and receiver.

E-mail is also both a private and public medium. While we all imagine that we each have our own little corner of the world, in reality we find that there are thousands of people who seem to know where we live. We find it intrusive that so many unsolicited messages magically appear in our inbox each day, even though it is a public medium. After all, we often think of our inbox as part of our personal space. When this space is violated by unwanted or abusive messages, we often react with aggression, exhibiting "road rage" behaviors in the virtual world.

Looking at the nature of e-mail as an asynchronous medium that enshrouds messages in ambiguity helps us develop strategies for processing e-mail and using our time more effectively.

Background

The background for this article is a Web project I started in 1995. Primarily designed to deliver free study guides over the Internet, the project also generates a significant number of e-mails from users around the globe (up to 300 unsolicited e-mails per day: http://www.cit.ac.nz/smac/csware.htm).

We quickly discovered that existing practices based on handling paper correspondence do not translate well into the electronic medium. E-mails quickly accumulate, and new strategies for handling these communications needed to be learned in double quick time.

Secretaries and appointment schedules handle intrusion in the physical world of managers. Unfortunately, e-mail does not respect these physical boundaries. In the virtual world of networked communications, managing access to yourself is a lot harder, especially if you are "wired."

Here's a basic set of rules we developed.

Rules for managing E-mail

• Rule 1: Develop a routine for processing e-mail messages. Set fixed times of the day to read and process e-mail, such as early morning, after lunch, and last thing in the day. Having regular times when e-mail is handled during the day ensures a good response time and helps prevent those messages from overflowing your inbox.
• Rule 2: Apply different methods of handling e-mail at various times of the day. In the early morning apply rules 3 and 4. After lunch apply rules 6, 7 and 8. This helps you sort out what messages are really important and defer those that are not.
• Rule 3: Scan the headers and decide immediately what messages to delete. This takes practice, but often the header and sender details will give you valuable clues as to whether the message is important or can safely be ignored.
• Rule 4: Divide the remaining messages into two groups by consciously deciding whether each message can be deferred or if it should be handled immediately. If the message cannot be deferred, do it straight away. If it's a deferred message, handle the message later in the day, leaving it in your inbox as a reminder. Consider using a synchronous medium such as the phone if it is really urgent, supporting this with a confirmatory e-mail message (so there is a paper trail record).
• Rule 5: Delete e-mail. The delete key is one of the most important keys when using e-mail. The adage "delete everything" sometimes applies, because if it's really important people will e-mail you again. If it was a top priority, they would've called you on the phone.
• Rule 6: Use folders to categorize your e-mail. All processed urgent messages should be archived or moved to other folders for processing. Only leave unprocessed messages in your inbox: this way you always know what you have to respond to.
• Rule 7: Avoid responding to e-mail immediately. Wait a half-day or day if possible. Respond with words like "I have considered your e-mail carefully." This helps reduce emotions and decrease hot responses (flaming) that you might later regret. It also gives the impression to the sender that you have considered their request (in effect you have because you have no doubt thought about it consciously or sub-consciously during the intervening time frame) carefully.
• Rule 8: Apply Shortest-Job-First scheduling principles. Select those e-mails that can be got rid of quickly.
• Rule 9: Try to respond with simple phrases such as yes, no, agree, sorry. Keep answers short and to the point. A lot of people have difficulty reading text on computer monitors, and the longer the reply the longer the time taken to read it. Remembering the nature of e-mail and the lack of real-time interaction, try to avoid ambiguity in responses. This will help reduce the "ping-pong" effect.
• Rule 10: Never respond to e-mail if you are unsure of who the real sender is. It could be spam mail. If in doubt, consider deleting the message. Replying to the message could add you to an undesirable list and subject you to further unsolicited e-mail messages.
• Rule 11: If possible, forward e-mail to others for action. A good manager delegates, so delegate and forward e-mail to other subordinates in the company for action. Apply rule 9 by adding a short comment such as "Bill, please respond to this request". Should e-mail ask for information you cannot supply, forward it to someone in the organization that can. Copy this forwarded e-mail back to the sender so they know that their request is being acted on and not ignored.
• Rule 12: Apply filter rules to incoming e-mail by using the junk e-mail feature in Outlook. When you receive mail from undesired sources, such as offers for free travel or credit cards, the address of the sender can be flagged as a junk e-mail source. This means any further e-mail from this address will be directed into the junk e-mail folder, rather than your inbox. (Editor's note: Other e-mail clients have filtering abilities; consult the documentation for your e-mail software)
• Rule 13: Do not open file attachments from people you do not know. The attachments could contain a virus or undesirable code that could potentially affect the security of your computer and data files. (Editor's note: The rule we employ here is that no file attachments get opened unless we're expecting them. Recent e-mail viruses have managed to disguise themselves by appearing to come from someone the recipient knows. If you aren't expecting the attachment, query your correspondent about it!)
• Rule 14: Take care responding to 'remove' options in unsolicited e-mail. Often this remove option is a means of gaining more information from you when you rely to the e-mail. Flag the sender as a junk e-mail source and let your filter take care of it.
• Rule 15: Archive mail regularly. Keep paper printouts of important correspondence.

These simple rules will allow the modern manager to easily handle a large number of e-mails each day. That inbox will stop overflowing and you will be able to respond to messages quicker and with greater clarity than previously. Let the mail start pouring in and revel in your e-mail management techniques.

About the Author