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Email Dominates Your Day

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The task of emailing consumes about a fourth of the average worker’s day, according to a 2012 report done by the McKinsey Global Institute and International Data Corporation. A separate survey estimated that the average corporate email user sends and receives about 105 emails per day.

Despite the many efficiencies of email, the sheer volume means you’ve got to use this tool effectively or else it can dominate your workday. Consider these issues:

  • Emails can be issued at a rapid- re pace generating multiple responses for a single subject.
  • Emails can be distributed to hundreds (or thousands) of people in an instant.
  • Email communications have replaced many face-to-face communications. A study done by officebroker.com found that 68 percent of respondents preferred email to face-to-face communication.
  • People will read your emails at different times, so the “conversation” can get out of sync. This is especially true when more people are included in the thread. Also, consider the impact of different time zones.
  • Many professionals use their email inbox as their “to do” list and/or a project management system despite its inherent weaknesses for this purpose.  Do not use your email inbox as a task management system. It is very inefficient.

Use Email Effectively

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When communicating by email, follow these guidelines:

  • Be cautious when using “forward.” Does the original sender expect you to forward it? When you send an email, are you sure how it will be handled? Will the recipient forward it to others? Be safe and assume your email will be forwarded.
  • Be judicious when using “reply all.” Does everyone in the thread need to see your response? Or would it be better to reply to the Sender only.
  • Be careful with the “Bcc” function (blind copy). It can be useful to maintain the privacy of recipients in a widely distributed email, but otherwise be cautious.
  • One method that may improve email efficiency is to say something like this: “I intend to do ________ unless you advise me differently by __________.” By explaining your intended next action, you will keep the recipient informed without requiring a response. Some people will appreciate your initiative while others may be uncomfortable with this approach, so check before employing this technique.

TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL (TM)

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When it comes to mastering public speaking, there is no greater resource than Toastmasters International. Toastmasters International offers its members a venue for practicing communication and leadership skills.

Clubs meet regularly and members fulfill different roles at each meeting. There is a proven curriculum of increasingly more challenging topics, techniques, and formats. Fellow club members evaluate speeches for each other. They also give support and encouragement to speakers of all abilities. Toastmasters In- ternational has grown to 14,650 clubs in 126 countries since its founding in 1924.

I encourage you to join Toastmasters. Each club has its own personality, so visit several clubs to nd the one that best suits you. Visit the Toastmasters International website to nd a club near you. https://www.toastmasters.org/

Reading List: Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss

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Why read this book? This best-selling book about punctuation entertains while it educates. The English language is complex and punctuation can intentionally (or unintentionally) add meaning to a word. Consider the book’s title, “Eats, Shoots & Leaves” or an alternative “Eats Shoots & Leaves”—not a subtle difference. Punctuation is too easy to get right. You don’t want a mistake here.

Written communication can make or break your career – Part 1
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“It’s none of their business that you have to learn to write. Let then think you were born that way.” – Ernest Hemingway

Written communication can make or break your career. The importance of your ability to write clearly, concisely, and correctly cannot be emphasized enough. For better or worse, the quality of your written communication will directly reflect on your underlying talent and ability. e better you write, the more competent people will think you are. Consider this very common scenario: Your supervisor asks you to draft a presentation for an important meeting. It may be to introduce a new product, to analyze your organization’s competitors in a new market, or to research a new government policy. This is the first major assignment for which you’ve been given primary responsibility. Naturally, you are eager to do well and impress your supervisor and colleagues.

You begin with online research. You study data from a re- cent survey and analyze public documents. You read dozens of relevant news stories. After a full week of collecting and analyzing facts and figures, you are ready to document your research and conclusions in a presentation to your supervisor and colleagues. While you may have done outstanding research and analyzed vast quantities of data, unless you can produce an equally high quality, written summary of your conclusions, your hard work won’t matter. You will be judged based only on the end product, the presentation. And if that presentation is poorly written, all of your research and analysis will fall under the same negative shadow. You cannot escape it. Poor quality written communication in the workplace is a career black hole —a nearly inescapable trap—that can break your career.

Read Part 2 of this post. –>