I am not sure if it was because my mother worked at IBM for 26 years and there were ‘Think’ signs, emblems, t-shirts, and all kinds of other swag around me but I am maniacal about carving out time to think. Just to think. I highly recommend it.
Today I am thinking about the massive amount of email we receive and thought I would share seven great guidelines.
1. Never use ‘Please read below and respond‘. Instead, summarize in a succinct set of bullet points and request a desired action.
2. Place only the people central to the topic and those from whom you expect a response in the ‘To‘ line. Everyone else can go in the ‘cc‘ line. If you are sending to a massive number of people, place them in the ‘bcc‘ line. Bonus Guideline: If you are cc’ed there is NNTR.
3. If an issue goes back and forth more than three times, set up some time to talk by phone or f2f. Email cannot substitute for good old fashioned talking.
4. For tele-conferences / meeting requests, include spaces in your conference access codes (xxx xxx xxxx). Watch Jerry Stiller below and you will know exactly what I mean (‘a little phone number rhythm‘ please):
5. Keep subject lines relevant. This might require renaming if the current topic has deviated from the original.
6. Don’t reply to all with short simple comments to the sender (Great work! / Congratulations! / Awesome!). Please do so as desired but on an individual basis (i.e. reply vs reply all).
7. Avoid starting fires – never use Please Respond ASAP – be specific with a date and time as to when you want/need a response (N.B. If there is an actual fire, it is ok to use ASAP).
Got a great one to share? Quote / link to this post and message me on twitter: @toddahitchcock
Full Disclosure: I did not come up with these on my on – lot’s of contributors – Jeff , Nikki, Amy, Colin, and more.