Top Time Tip #84
Would you like to reduce your e-mail?
November 28th 2006
A Clever Way to Reduce Email
Mention email to anyone and usually we hear a groan. Of course, it's a wonderful tool as well - if used correctly. Unfortunately, it seems the companies who use it well are far outnumbered by those who struggle with wasted time, overuse, employees who don't get off their butts or pick up the phone and a pervading sense of frustration and productivity seepage.
Here's a great idea shared by my friend and client Merilyn Havler, General Manager of Beiersdorf New Zealand. (They produce Nivea, Elastoplast and a number of other well-known brands.)
Because a lot of work is done trans-Tasman between the Australian and New Zealand divisions of Beiersdorf, both branches decided to implement a Reduce E-mail Week' (with the hope that the impact would last a lot longer than the designated week!)
There were two parts to the strategy.
1. Everyone received a small laminated card to place in a prominent place on their desk or beside their computers.
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Reduce E-mail Week
Before you send an email ask yourself
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· Do I need to send this?
· Can I deliver the message in person?
· Can I discuss this over the phone?
· Am I sending this email for the right reason?
· If I must send this have I copied in unnecessary people?
Remember E-mail is not a tool for communication
only information. |
2. When each person logged onto the system every day that week a notice popped up saying Remember it's REM week'.
Results? Instead of firing emails all over the place, sometimes multiple times a day (including to people in the next room or cubicle) they all found themselves getting up and walking down the corridor, picking up the phone or simplifying in other ways. Everyone commented on how much more they achieved.
Imagine the impact if we all did that not for a week, but for a lifetime!
Other resources to help with e-mail overload:
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