written by Daniel Somerset,
For a good number of us, when the alarm goes off we start our day by reaching for our smartphone to check our email. Once out the door and at the office, we again open our email and begin prioritizing our day.
Some sort emails by date, others sort by name, hitting senior leaders’ emails first. Regardless of the method, the likelihood of missing an email is high with an overflowing inbox. I’ve always argued that the best way to avoid missing an email is by getting fewer emails. So when I saw a Harvard Business Review article titled: “Researchers have found an easy way to get an entire company to cut back on email – get the executives to send fewer messages,” I had to click. (I’m sure many of you are wondering what this has to do with market research – there is only a loose connection.)
Research for the article began when a top European management team wanted to “improve their team efficiency.” Analysis showed that the overwhelming amount of email might be part of the problem; further digging showed that the executives themselves were guilty of generating a large volume of email themselves. The executives decided to treat email the same way they would an industrial inefficiency – they ruthlessly cut any unnecessary emails. After three months and some training, the executives cut their email by more than half – and their subordinates followed suit – decoupling themselves from the email taskmaster.
Now I’m not advocating you march into your boss’s office and demand he or she send less email. In the best of times, that wouldn’t be an easy conversation, even if you have a plate of their favorite warm, moist brownies. However, it’s always appropriate to reflect on our own email usage. Did we need to hit “reply-all” when a simple “reply” would have done the trick? Would a two minute phone call not only be more effective but also more efficient than drafting an email? Did your email carry an unintended tone of frustration, apathy or anger for the recipient? Beyond the time constraints, email can also carry unintended additional emotional baggage.
While getting a few less emails a day might not seem like all that much, reading and writing fewer emails adds up to real time saved each day and less “full inbox” stress at the end of the night. Ultimately, this translates to more time that we can dedicate to our customers – after all, they are the reason we show up each day.
Do you have any strategies for avoiding email overload?
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