Since I started working with Timyo, I’ve read a lot of articles and blog posts about how to better manage email. Some of them are really insightful, and some…not so much. But in almost every case, these articles shared one thing in common—they focused on how the recipient could better manage his inbox.
This makes a lot of sense, because it is as recipients that we feel most of the direct pain associated with email—we are hit with a constant barrage of emails that we then have to open, decide how and when to respond to, sort into different folders, mark as unread so we make sure to get back to them, etc. It’s a nightmare.
But the recipient shouldn’t have to go it alone. If we change our behavior not only as recipients but also as senders, then email gets a lot better for everybody. Here are a few ways we can do that:
1. Ask yourself: “Do I really need to email this?”
It is something of a mystery that we all feel like we receive a bunch of unimportant emails, but we don’t feel like we send any email that is unimportant. Clearly, the numbers don’t add up. It’s important to take a moment before you send an email to ask yourself: “Is this something that really needs to be emailed?” If it’s an immediate two word response, maybe a text would be better. If it’s a conversation that is going to need quite a bit of back and forth, maybe a chat/message app or even (God forbid!) a phone call. If it’s a cat video, maybe a link on social media, or maybe, you know…nothing at all.
As a corollary question, if you are responding to a group email, you can ask yourself: “Do I really need to reply all?”
2. Respect Email Expectations
One of the best articles that I’ve read about fixing email actually does address the sender’s role; it’s called “Respect Email Expectations”. As, the author, Sharlyn Lauby, writes:
“The bottom-line is that everyone should have a certain level of consciousness about the content of their messages, the method they use to send them, and the timing. In addition, there should be clear and reasonable expectations regarding a response. And those expectations need to be respected.”
What this boils down to is the key word that begins the title of the article: respect. When we email conscientiously, it is a sign that we respect our correspondents’ time, and there is an implicit request that they respect ours as well. And more respect is never a bad thing.
3. Send email with clear expectations.
This is where Timyo, and, to my mind, a simple reworking of the Golden Rule come in: “Email unto others as you would have them email unto you.” By using Timyo to clearly and easily set expectations for the recipient, you are treating them how you yourself would like to be treated. With a relatively easy fix, Timyo allows the sender to take an extra second and say how and when she would like the recipient to respond.
By following these three simple rules, we can go a long way toward making sure that email is what it always should have been: a powerful tool for clear, helpful communication. And, as both sender and recipient, that is a welcome change for everybody.
