An article in the Aug. 3-10 issue of Computerworld provides a commentary on the effective use of e-mail. According to the author who reported the research of Dianna Booher, 58 percent of workers spend up to three hours per day on e-mail. While the hours spent are debatable, the loss in productivity resulting from constantly reading and responding to e-mail is real. Some suggestions posed by the author and others to improve the use of e-mail include:
Craft e-mails carefully that are clear and succinct. The author suggests that e-mails have an action, background, and close. Edit the e-mail before hitting the Send button. (Don’t provide a dissertation in an e-mail when another form of communication is more effective.)
Make the Subject line meaningful. Let the receiver know the intent of the message and if action is needed.
Before hitting Send, check the To field. Avoid sending a “Reply to All” if only one individual needs the information. The author refers to “Reply to All” as internal spam. Just think of all the times you have received a “Thanks!” one-liner in a LISTSERV message.
Stop sending “Thanks!”, “Okay!”, and “Nice job!” via e-mail.
When sending an e-mail, if everyone does not need to see all e-mail addresses, place all addresses in the Bcc: field (blind carbon copy). Everyone still receives the message, but they don’t have to wade through 100 e-mail addresses to get to the message text.
Consider reading and responding to e-mails at specific times during the day.
If readers have suggestions for tips on e-mail use, send to telltuesday@k-state.edu.
