Smarter Egg

The BBC’s Money Programme recently spotlighted the ever-increasing workload associated with managing e-mail. When e-mail emerged as the primary means of business communication over a decade ago, only the most negative of pessimists could have forecast some of the alarming statistics quoted in this show:

• We can spend up to half our working day going through our inbox
• One-third of office workers suffer from e-mail stress
• We spend 52 hours a year just dealing with our junk mail
• Approximately 3 billion messages are sent in the UK each day (using my amateur mathematics, that’s approximately 50 per person!)

Cynics may suggest this is sufficient reason to revert to a telephone and what has now become known as ’snail mail’. However, for the vast majority of the population, it will be impossible to force the genie back into the bottle. The challenge for the rest of us is to develop the key skills that will allow us to manage e-mail effectively.The advice offered in the BBC programme was broken down into five steps.

1. Invest in a spam filter.
2. Target your e-mail
3. Write more carefully.
4. Reduce interruptions.
5. Get training.

The first step is essential. The unpleasant reality at this point in the evolution of the internet is that spam is ubiquitous and multiplying. Once your e-mail address gets targeted, you can’t really afford not to take action.

Steps 2 & 3 could be categorised as ‘good practice’ i.e. behaviours that, if employed by us all, would make our use of e-mail much more productive. This is the electronic age equivalent of holding the door open for fellow citizens. Politeness always has its place.

Step 4 gets to the heart of the core issue with e-mail management: ensure that you are managing e-mail for your own personal benefit and that you do not allow the constant flow of e-mail to manage/distract/disrupt you. This is a topic that we will continue to explore in future blog postings and ultimately, in Smarter Egg training and consulting offerings.

As for the final point, no matter how good or bad we feel we are at managing e-mail, there are always new techniques and practices emerging that can help us be more productive. Never assume that you know everything that needs to be known.