I have been working with a team of people at my company to identify the issues we have been having with email. They revolve around two things: communication, or lack thereof; and volume (400 emails by lunch??). Today we launched the training identify 10 Email Directives to enforce throughout the company which are simple to follow, easy to implement, and if they work right, should make a huge impact on volume and communication.
Here is what we did. I think this may be helpful to a lot of companies, both large and small.
- I put together a team of forward thinking people representing each department. This helped build a network of individuals who could also become evangelists and tutors as the program was rolled out to the entire company.
- We had brainstorming session to discuss and identify what was causing our email issues and what directives we could easily put in place to help.
- We narrowed down the list to the top 10.
- I put together training slides and a presentation to walk everyone through each directive and included peer training tips so everyone would be included in the process.
- I launched the training.
To give you an example of some of the directives we chose to include, he is a sample, in no particular order:
Use the Rule of 3: If it takes more than 3 emails to get something done, pick up the phone or get up and go talk to the person. Recap the discuss
No Blind Forwarding: "See below" means nothing. Recap a forwarded email to provide all information at the top so the receiver doesn't have to scroll or infer what is meant from the previous messages. Manage Your Email Folders: Schedule time daily or weekly to go through mails in the inbox, sent folder, deleted folder and archive folders. Delete what isn't needed. Organize messages and folders. No Gratuitous CC or Reply All: Know who you are sending a message to and why. A person in the To line is supposed to act on the message. A person in the CC line is being copied as an FYI. Don't just add everyone to CYA! Be selective.
