This blog post was prompted from a disturbing email I received from a friend who informed me that he replied to 7,545 emails in 2011 – yes, that’s 7,545! Included in his email (of course he had to send me an email!) was an analysis of how much time he spent replying to those emails. By his “conservative” calculation, he estimated he devoted a full 45 days (19 percent of his annual workable time) replying to email last year. Of course this is just the time spent replying to emails; it does not account for his time reading all his incoming emails.

Naturally, this made me wonder: Is my friend managing his time and email correctly? I’ve been the recipient of many of his emails, and I feel confident saying “no.” But why is this? My first answer is that he is not a professional communicator.

As PR professionals, I believe we have a distinct advantage over other professionals to use our PR skills – namely organization and writing – to bring greater sanity, efficiency and effectiveness to email correspondence. In fact, I get highly discouraged when working with fellow PR professionals who cannot or do not communicate clearly in email. To me, that’s adding to dysfunction and ineffectiveness, not to mention doing a discredit to the title “PR pro” or “professional communicator.”

Positively managing and writing effective emails can have numerous professional and career benefits, including: increased productivity and working efficiency; greater respect from supervisors, colleagues, subordinates and clients; and an increased perception of your own personal brand.

In some respects, I view email as an extension of your own personal communication and organizational style. For example, are you quick to reply to every email you get, or do you wait hours or days to reply? Do you consistently write complete, thoughtful sentences for each email or are your emails choppy and disjointed? Do you vary your writing, such as your voice and/or length, based on the person you’re emailing? Contrast this with face-to-face meetings. If you’re sitting across the table from your supervisor or a customer, you probably want to be more precise and thoughtful with your speaking and communication style. If you’re in a team meeting with colleagues who look to you as a leader, you probably want to inspire confidence and trust. Wouldn’t you want to do those same things via email?

Below are some suggestions for better managing email and productivity. If you are a PR pro, I hope you are employing all or most of these ideas. If you’re not a PR pro, I hope you find these suggestions beneficial.

1. Stop and Evaluate – Not every email needs an immediate reply. But every email needs an action from you. You have the choice to reply, not to reply or save it for future use/review. When trying to figure out what course of action to take, keep the following questions in mind:

• Who is it coming from? If it’s from your boss or client, it should be an email that you reply to within a reasonable amount of time (see below for more on this.)
• What is the urgency? Is the email so critical that you should you drop what you’re working on and respond to it immediately? I would venture that less than 10 percent of the emails we get are of this nature.
• What is the context? Is the email important to the work I am currently doing or will be doing shortly?
• What is my “Call to Action?” If I do reply to the email, am I being clear in my reply? For example, do I need more information from the sender? Am I going to forward this along to my boss? Am I going to put an action on my task list to do for next week? Be clear to yourself and the sender about your course of action to move the email along.

2. Set “To” and “Copy” Expectations – This may be the most important step, but is also the one of the more challenging. If you’re a manager, it’s vital you are clear with your subordinates about the types of emails you want to be copied on or when you would prefer an email vs. a phone call or meeting. For example, I tell my colleagues that I want to be copied on all important client deliverable emails, but that’s it. I also tell them not to send me emails related to their professional development or employment terms; I would rather discuss these issues with them in a face-to-face setting vs. through email. If you can set these expectations, you can greatly reduce the amount of emails you may get from your team members. It’s also important to set this same expectation with your supervisor. Setting clear expectations and then following through is key to any project, and email is no different.

3. Consolidate Topics and Meet or Pick Up the Phone – Whether you are a manager or a subordinate, remember: If you send out a lot of emails, you’re going to get a lot of emails coming back to you. Therefore, if you’re trying to manage the amount of emails coming to your inbox, consider picking up the phone or having an in-person conversation. If you have multiple topics to communicate to one person, try consolidating or “grouping” them and having a 5-minute discussion with that person. This may ultimately be quicker and more efficient than sending out multiple different emails on multiple topics.

4. Block Off “Email Only” Time – This goal is related to #2 above. You should set parameters for when you will actively be on email and responding to emails and when you will not. Be sure to communicate this to your supervisor, team members, customers, etc. For example, unless I have a meeting, my colleagues know that my time for actively checking emails is from 8 to 9 a.m. and then again from 4:30 to 5 p.m. If I don’t reply to an email from them during that time and they have an urgent issue with me, they should come find me.

5. Tailor Your Communication – After considering Steps #1 and #2, you should tailor your communication based on the person and the context. For example, I would not advise using email to communicate potentially sensitive or negative news, if you can avoid it. Likewise, email is not the forum to fully detail your 5-year strategic marketing plan. If your goal is to impress your boss and you’ve determined that email is the best forum, be sure you write sharp and concise emails to him or her. Remember: Email can be quick, but a phone conversation or an in-person meeting can sometimes be more rich and effective. You need to balance these things based on the entire context of who you’re communicating with, the topic and the time urgency.

6. Be Clear – Seem obvious, right? Unfortunately, however, emails are all too often written fast or without much thought. This makes it a challenge to know what exactly to do with poorly written emails. Emails that are not clearly written can create ambiguity, confusion, stress — and even weakened productivity due to lost time. Don’t add to the confusion and the dysfunction. Be clear in who you are addressing and what you’re requesting or assigning in your email. Also, be sure to include any deadlines you need. It’s better to take a few minutes to craft one well-written email to move the process along rather than go fast and send out three different emails.

Beyond the suggestions above, below are some tactical tips you can use immediately:

1. Include a Strong Subject Head — Be sure to have an effective Subject Head to get attention

2. Use Numbers or Bullet Points — Be sure to use numbers or bullet points in your email if you’re covering multiple issues; this will allow the recipient an easier way to address each one individually

3. More than 15 Minutes? — If it takes you more than 15 minutes to write an email, it’s probably better to stop writing that email or condense it and then augment it with a phone call or in-person meeting

4. Use Bold or Underline – Doing this can help make a point or draw attention to important or specific items you need read

5. Be Careful When Forwarding — If you’re forwarding an email string/chain and there is something of importance in that chain, don’t just use “FYI below” and expect the recipient to see what you’re hoping they see. Actually point out what it is that they should pay specific attention to

6. Get Closure– Be sure to include direct actions and deadlines in your email

7. Avoid Multiple Sends — Try to avoid sending multiple emails out from the same email before your recipient gets a chance to respond to the first email

8. If You Have Doubts…Wait a Several Minutes – If you have doubts about hitting the “send” button, there is probably a good reason. Listen to what that voice in the back of your head is trying to say. Remember: You can never “un-send” an email once it’s sent. Better to keep it in your draft folder and think about it for an hour than send it quickly and have regrets

Time is everyone’s most valuable resource. By using smart and effective communication strategies for email, we can free up more time to be productive or do the things we want to do. It’s my hope that PR professionals are carrying the torch for effective email and interpersonal communication and thereby making things easier for themselves and the audiences they work with. If they are doing this, they are doing a great service to themselves and the profession.

What are your thoughts? Have I missed anything?

Tags: No Comments