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Coping with Email Overload: 20 ideas

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I was recently asked to share some thoughts on how organisations can help their employees cope with their email overload and become better email citizens. In response I compiled the '20 ideas' below as food for thought for messaging administrators and HR professionals. I've shared it here in the simple hope that it might help you too:

  1. Email is just a form of communication and its use is deeply-rooted in an organisation’s culture. Changing emailing behaving must be done sensitively to ensure the new ways are consistent with ‘the way things always get done round here’.
  2. IT Pros: Don’t refer to it as "email abuse". To your end users’ point of view it’s ‘email overload’ and it’s a far bigger problem for them that it is for you. (Think of the multiplier effect: 1 upset IT Pro is less than 1,000 upset end users). Make it clear that you want to help and are on their side.
  3. Measure what’s going on, understand the email behaviour of your organisation and report publicly when things start to improve.
  4. Put end users in control of their destiny by enabling them to manage their own distribution group memberships. This will help them accept ownership of their personal predicament and start doing something about it.
  5. Teach proper use of rules and desktop alerts. Use rules to sort incoming mails automatically and stop all ‘toasts’ (desktop alerts) except for important notifications.
  6. Don’t let Outlook rule your day. You’re in charge, so take control. Teach people how to customise their Outlook experience (for example by using custom views for their mail) so they understand that they, not the flood of email, are in control.
  7. Encourage the use of RSS feeds instead of, for example, email newsletters so people learn to read what they want when they want.
  8. Help people stay on top by providing easy access to their ‘Outlook stuff’ when they want, how they want. To be successful, think Martini: any time, any place, anywhere. By allowing staff to sort through their email during downtime their uptime in the office will become productive.
  9. Police bad behaviour so people know that you’re watching and unacceptable behaviour will not be tolerated. Policy-enforce and monitor email behaviour. One tactful warning will reach fifty ears.
  10. Encourage people to clear out unwanted stuff from their mailbox. Run an internal competition awarding prizes to the team or department that reduces their mail store by the biggest amount.
  11. Encourage proper formatting of emails. The subject is your headline. The purpose of an email should be clear in the first two lines. The action expected of the recipient should be explicit. Always remember: brevity rules!
  12. Don’t use email if other forms of communication (phone call, instant message, face-to-face, letter) would be more effective.
  13. Never prevent employees from making personal communications during work time but encourage them to think carefully about what is appropriate and what isn’t. Remind them that you’re watching.
  14. Set and publish strict limits on email attachment sizes but make it equally easy to send bigger files through more efficient channels (for example SharePoint, extranet, FTP, FolderShare).
  15. Treat message hygiene as a top priority. It’s a ‘hygiene factor’. Not doing it will lead to employee dissatisfaction. Use automated tool to fix it. Now focus on adding some value instead of fire-fighting message-borne threats.
  16. Cut out clutter by discouraging the sending of those nasty little one word “Thanks” emails. An instant message or coffee machine greeting would be more efficient.
  17. Talk up the joys of empty inbox harmony. Encourage staff to convert emails to tasks to add structure to their workload. Actively support both ‘filers’ and ‘pilers’ equipping both with the tools they need to be efficient.
  18. Educate people on the perils of the 'Reply to All’ button and discourage its use through custom forms or Windows Rights Management Services.
  19. Encourage intelligent use of Office Communicator to verify that the intended recipient is not out of the office before sending that important email.
  20. Enforce company-wide email signature usage so alternative contact methods are properly advertised to email recipients. Use this space to promote important company messages.