No one pays you to write emails… so why do you start the day with them?
Reading and Writing Emails is not your job.
It is a PART of your job but should not take up more than 5–10% of your time.
Earlier this week, I was facilitating a two-day workshop with a client. During the breaks, everyone dived into their bags, dug out their laptops and started tapping away. When I asked ‘what they were doing’, they responded — ‘emails’.
It left me reflecting on the nature of email — no one pays us to write them and we don’t like receiving most of them — so why do so many companies have a culture where people send and receive hundreds of them every day? What is getting missed amongst this communication noise?
Email is a useful communication tool for some things but it is not a good communication tool for everything. Chasing ‘inbox zero’ is a terrible measure of productivity because it places efficiency over effectiveness.
This is the motoring equivalent of getting great fuel economy whilst driving in the wrong direction.
I agree that they are a necessary part of the job, useful for booking administrative tasks and often following up on meetings — but they are not THE job. Especially for those in a leadership position.
I’ve worked with a number of clients where email is the primary method of communication. Everyone gets cc’d on everything clogging up information channels and generating ‘noise’ that actually distracts us from doing the things that we need to do.
For many people, the first thing that they do when they get to the office, (or even wake up!) is check their emails.
The problem with this is that it is completely reactive. You are literally opening your computer to dance to a tune that someone else is playing for you.
This limits your ability to be proactive and effective.
How many times have you found yourself starting the day by checking your emails, and then the next time you look up, realise it’s 11:30 and you’ve lost half the day?
This is a problem — and for many people is one of the limiting factors on their own productivity. It is impossible to do what you need to do if you are permanently responding to emails sent by other people.
I have written about this before but from the standpoint that emails rarely require much brainpower to process. Therefore, they can be left to those times of the day where your energy and attention levels might be lower. Match demanding tasks (e.g. reading/writing more complex documents) with times when you are at your peak energy levels. Match less demanding tasks (e.g. arranging meetings, admin) towards the end of the day when you’ve got less energy.
I have a tendency to leave emails until I have done the most important task for the day. What is the number one priority that is going to help me achieve my vision? Do that before you do anything else.
I have found that limiting myself to checking and responding to emails at 1200 and 1800 works well. I find that by ‘boxing off the time’, I am able to get through them quicker. It helps if you kill all the notifications on your computer — they’re just distractions disguised as something useful.
I’ve also realised that there is a process to this. There is a hierarchy of communication methods that makes email unsuitable to the majority of interactions.
35% of our communication is ‘the words that we say’. The rest is made up of all the other things that aren’t being said. Facial expressions, tone of voice, body language, eye contact and posture are all non-verbal expressions of communication.
We know this because when the Police call someone in for questioning — they do it face to face — not via email.
If you just use email to communicate — you are setting yourself up for failure because you’re just using one tool to do many jobs.
If you only have a hammer — everything becomes a nail.
There is a Hierarchy of Communication Methods — a selection of tools that you need to employ in various situations to get the message across. Using the wrong tool, in the wrong situation has the potential to create misunderstanding and problems.
When you are preparing to communicate a message, consider the following points.
- Is it important?
- Is it urgent — do you need an answer now?
- Is it complicated and is there a high risk of confusion?
- Can it be dealt with faster and more efficiently using another method?
If the answer to all of these questions is no — then send an email. If these points cause you to pause and reflect, consider them in line with the table below.
Remember — communication is the responsibility of the sender, not the receiver. If you need to get a message across, it’s no good using the wrong method and then complaining about the response or lack of action.
You remain accountable for passing the message until you are confident that it has been understood. Emailing someone with a request or an action does not pass the accountability for it to them — unless you are convinced that they have ‘caught and received the message’.
You can’t email the fire brigade and get upset when they don’t turn up!
If you get an email from someone and it doesn’t fit in with the above criteria, remember — it is not their fault. No one comes to work to make mistakes and given that very few people get email training, it is unsurprising that few know how to use the tool effectively.
Be prepared to coach the individual and help improve their communication skills.
If someone sends you an email ‘marked URGENT’ — challenge them with the fact that there is no such thing as an urgent email. That’s why you can’t email the emergency services.
If someone sends you an email that you don’t understand, pick up the phone and talk to them.
You lead by example, it is up to you whether or not it is a good one.
When researching this topic, I came across the following article by Tim Ferris. In it, he talks about creating an ‘auto response’ that tells people that you are trying to increase your own productivity by managing your inbox more effectively.
Who can argue with that intention?!
‘Hi all…
In an effort to increase productivity and efficiency I am beginning a new personal email policy. I’ve recently realized I spend more time shuffling through my inbox and less time focused on the task at hand. It has become an unnecessary distraction that ultimately creates longer lead times on my ever-growing ‘to do’ list.
Going forward I will only be checking/responding to email at 11a and 4p on weekdays. I will try and respond to email in a timely manner without neglecting the needs of our clients and brand identity.
If you need an immediate time-sensitive response… please don’t hesitate to call me. Phones are more fun anyways.
Hopefully this new approach to email management will result in shorter lead times with more focused & creative work on my part. Cheers & here’s to life outside of my inbox!’
Or, this shorter version…
Thank you for your email! Due to my current workload I am only checking email at 11am and 4pm. If you need anything immediately please call me on my mobile so that I can address this important matter with you. Thank you and have a great day!
Creating a culture where information is able to flow is not new. When Ricardo Semler took over SEMCO in the 1980s he insisted that all memos be written on one sheet of paper. He did this to ‘cut through the noise’ so that people could get to the information that they needed to without being overloaded by information.
As a Royal Marines Officer, I used to have Sergeants that never checked their emails. Funnily enough they still knew what was going on because they spent more time talking to people.
‘You can’t lead from behind a desk’ they used to say!
Ultimately, it is up to you what you spend your time doing. If you are a leader, you set the example for people to follow. It’s up to you if it’s a good one or a bad one.
If you are forever chasing ‘inbox zero’ then you are probably very efficient but you might want to think about ways in which you can become more effective.