On the occasion of No Email Day, we have prepared for you 5 quite good tips and 1 brilliant one on how to reduce the number of messages in your mailbox immediately.
How many emails do you receive per day? How many books do you have unread at the end of the week? On average, we send and receive up to 100 e-mails a day and spend 13 hours on them! This is a lot of time that could be spent on much more important and interesting tasks. But how do you get rid of all those “urgent” messages and avoid an overflowing inbox? Here's what to do:
Exhaust the topic, not the recipient
Send e-mails that contain all the necessary information, so you won't receive a pile of messages with additional questions and requests for clarification. It's better to spend some time at the beginning and write a reliable message than to quickly send a perfunctory one. Reliable, however, does not mean lengthy, focus on facts and specifics, write exactly what you expect from each recipient. Understatements can generate an avalanche of emails... and even phone calls!
Don't mix up threads
A good practice is to describe only one problem in one message and provide it with a clear title. This organizes correspondence and makes it easier to find important information for both the sender and the recipient. This will reduce the number of unnecessary emails asking you about the same things again.
For the information of all saints
The communication culture of some companies sometimes requires that messages from all involved colleagues and their superiors be placed among the recipients. Many of them then respond just to avoid being perceived as ignoring the topic, but they don't actually contribute anything. Therefore, you receive more unnecessary emails (and autoresponders). Also limit sending group messages to a minimum - to entire departments or all employees in the company. Unless there are other company rules, only post people who are actually involved in the project.
Fast balls – preferably in chat
Using applications that support teamwork (Slack), which allow you to group channels, threads and messages, helps reduce the number of emails by up to half. In turn, thanks to instant messengers such as Skype or Talky, you can get an answer to a burning question much faster. Chats and instant messaging are perfect for short, specific questions when you need answers right away. Thanks to such messages, you don't have to compete with dozens of other, more important emails in your inbox.
Don't send messages after business hours
Access to e-mail on a smartphone, which we always have at hand, means that we check our work mailbox even after leaving work. This is a bad habit that does not allow us to rest and regenerate after a long day. Some companies even prohibit such practices. For example, Porsche (Financial Times) decided that employees should be protected from work-related emails during their free time. The company's policy is that all correspondence between 19 p.m. and 00 a.m. is returned to the sender. So don't send e-mails after leaving the office, contrary to appearances, they will not speed things up...
Replace emails with an app
All five of the above tips, although correct, will not, individually or taken together, fully eliminate the problem if in your company most administrative, HR or operational matters require sending an e-mail anyway. Need an important file? You send an email. Need a report? You send an email. Does the boss have to accept the quote? You send an email. Do you want to take a vacation? You send an email. Do you want to remind an employee to return an important declaration? You send an email. There seems to be no way around or overcoming this. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Most matters currently requiring sending requests, inquiries or e-mail approvals can be easily and quickly automated. How? Just move these processes (service holidays or delegation, scheduling, budgeting or recruitment) for extremely simple and fully self-service business applications. The Qalcwise platform offers ready-made applications that you can adapt to the specifics of your company in just a few hours. And you will immediately share them with your colleagues, without the need for time-consuming and expensive implementation involving an IT team.
How it's working? Firstly, Qalcwise applications allow you to create any forms, applications, registers or schedules. Secondly, they allow you to quickly and conveniently complete them online, setting automatic reminders and requests for acceptance. Thirdly, thanks to the graphical representation of workflow and documents, you can check the status of your task at any time. You do not have to send additional emails asking what is happening with your application. By establishing appropriate rules and granting permissions, you can easily involve all interested parties and conveniently manage any tasks.
By automating all activities in the process, you will not only shorten the processing time, but also improve communication. Employees will only receive necessary email notifications requiring their action. And their operation can be limited to one quick click (confirm / reject), without the need for unnecessary correspondence. Voila! This way, your inbox will finally be slimmed down and you will regain up to 13 hours of your weekly working time. What will you use them for?
