"The biggest disease in our company is the cc! Why do we cc the world?!". This comment was overheard on the tube into Canary Wharf. It typifies the frustration of returning from a relaxing holiday break to an inevitable email avalanche.
With a range of social media at our fingertips, it is easy to forget that email is most people’s primary business tool for information management and collaboration.
The email management situation is certainly one to watch and the jury is out on whether a mix of internal social media, instant messaging and Cloud can deliver the hoped-for time savings while retaining business effectiveness.
For everybody else, the internet is awash with tips on reducing the email avalanche. Here are three tried and tested favourites:
Check your email three times a day only and switch off notifications. Scary at first, but focused time without distraction is golden.
Stop keeping a cluttered inbox. Stay responsive by using a reply or action folderand cut down on scrolling up and down rereading the same mail. Focus on the reply folder once a day and crank through them.
Do as you would be done by. Keep email succinct, don’t cc/reply all unless necessary, and pick up the phone.
As we wait for a much-longed-for comprehensive cure to email overload, here are a few more tips to help you manage it in the meantime:
Sarah Dillingham has a long track record in delivering successful knowledge management programmes. Her background includes City professional services and central government. She is fascinated with the way that people interact with technology to collaborate (or not!), and the growth of mobile.
Sarah Dillingham has a long track record in delivering successful knowledge management programmes. Her background includes City professional services and central government. She is fascinated with the way that people interact with technology to collaborate (or not!) and the growth of mobile.
The FreePint Family is a family of resources to help information workers be more effective, raise the value of information in their organisations and contribute to success.
'FreePint... provides most of my professional development because it won't come through work and [other resources] just don't cut it.'
FUMSI Forum: Do you have a research question? Post it to the FUMSI Forum, where professionals share Q&A and useful tips on how to Find, Use, Manage and Share Information. It's free.
![[Reuse options]](http://license.icopyright.net/images/icopy-w.png){kind=small}
FreePint Shop:
