Helpful hint on getting to answering email only 3 or 4 times a day.

Submitted by jdblackmon
in
General Questions and Comments


I would like to add a little 1st hand advice to the podcast on getting down to checking email only three times a day.  I had a couple of directors that were caught off guard by the new wait time in receiving responses.  They were too accustomed to the near instant email response mentality that we have in most organizations.  So I changed my tactics.  I set my Outlook mail to retrieve mail every 15 minutes in the beginning, and then slowly increased the retrieve time over a few months.  This took away the going cold turkey of no responses to their requests.  This little trick helped greatly.

Jeff 

 

 

Submitted by Andrew Sloan on Sunday July 7th, 2013 9:39 pm

Good tactic.  It's always easier to introduce a gradual change rather than a shock to the system!
I laughed when I read about your directors, contrast that with my director who told us point blank, "I watch how fast you all respond to me.  If you always respond to my emails right away, I know you're not being effective with your time because you're wasting it on email."
--Steve

Submitted by Mark Horstman on Tuesday March 12th, 2013 10:57 am

And, while slowly weaning your bosses off  THEIR email addition isn't a bad idea, it's been our experience that after the initial shock, they get over it.
Email is a form of control.  being able to sit at one's desk as a boss and send mails to several people and expect immediate responses makes directs and below  almost like a pair of hands, rather than an expert or a collaborator.  (these terms are taken from the consulting world, specifically the wonderful Peter Block).
Mark

Submitted by George Peden on Tuesday March 12th, 2013 7:19 pm

When I get reply .5 seconds after I send it (especially) from a direct I think "You really didn't think this through did you?"
A couple of things I found effective (semi-related) :

  • I found that I was 'feeding the beast' - sending and replying to emails that just added fuel to the fire.  For every email I sent it seemed like I got 10 replies in return - many of which added no value.
  • The discipline of email 3 times a day is help cultivate space between stimulus and response.  Ask yourself a few questions: Does my reply add value? Is it true? Is it positive?
  • I rarely (never?) reply if I am on the 'CC'.  If you care enough about my point of view put me on the 'To:' line. At least let the CC tempest work itself out for a while before chiming in (if you just can't help yourself)
  • For a while I put myself on a 'reply' diet - 10 replies a day. That's it - so I make them count.. Checking email three times a day allows you to weigh the value of a reply against all the other emails you may have received.   When you do them as the come in they are all equally 'important'.
  • Try picking up the phone and actually talking to people - or (God forbid!) getting up and walking over and having a face to face conversation really helps.

To quote Ron White: "You have the right to remain silent, you just don't have the ability" - applies to email.
Thanks,
George
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