Upload
wiertz-sebastien
View
998
Download
2
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Citation preview
XinFu: The Martial Art of emailing
Managing and communicating effectively with emails
Wiertz Sébastien http://BeXinFu.com
RomeIt took 4 million years to reach the information
density we had in Rome in 1 A.D.
In the Renaissance 1500 years later, this density doubled
http
://w
ww
.flic
kr.c
om/p
hoto
s/gr
uts/
3143
0583
69/
Industrial Revolution
About 250 years later, this value doubled again during the industrial revolution
By 2012, 30% of the world population will use e‐mail
E‐mail Overload
Inbox contains hundred of msg including remaining tasks, partially read documents and
conversional thread
A week without email is more stressful than a car accident or a divorce
People who are coming back from holiday spendsometimes more than a day trying to “recover” their inbox.
People spend .. h a day in their Inbox
However …
… We have to deal with e‐mails to do Business
And since time is a limited resource
We must better manage our e‐mails
Collect
Process
Organize
Do
1. Organizing
The role of your Inbox
Getting back "IN" to "IN"
It takes an average of 64 sec to recover your train of thought after interruption by e‐mail
Dr. Thomas Jackson (Loughborough University)
50 e‐mails a day cost more than 4 hours a week
1. Remove e‐mail notification window in your e‐mail client2. Turn off sound notification
Avoid distractions:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/e06158/1499062033/
Getting started
Remove/Archive e‐mails older than 4 weeks from
your inbox
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kattenmeisje/2347597918
Step 3. Create the following subfolders:
1. Next actions2. Read /review 3. Someday / Maybe4. Waiting for5. Ref docs 6. Treated / To archived7. To filter my pond
Next actions
This folder regroups all the e‐mails where an action is needed from you.
(to do as soon as you can)
Read / Review
This folder regroups all the informative e‐mails that you may need to read
(no action required)
Someday/Maybe
This folder regroups all the e‐mails on which you may need to take action in the future
(no action is required now)
Waiting for
This folder regroups all the e‐mails for which you expect answers
(Waiting for someone)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/picholine
Ref. docs
This folder regroups all the e‐mails you need to access rapidly for reference purpose
(Waiting for someone)
Treated / To archive
This folder regroups all the e‐mails which have been treated
(ready to be filled or archived)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mhofstrand/
Step 4. Get rid of unwanted e‐mails:
1. Unsubscribe2. Use Spam filter 3. Use rules
But do not just ...…delete them
Step 5. Set up your e‐mail signature
1. Respect company policy (if any)2. Provide a phone number (even for internal email)
2. Processing the Inbox
Process your Inbox 2 to 3 times a day
limit your session to 20 minutes(*)
(*) Unless it’s really needed
Processing is not …
… Scanning
Step 1: Scanning your inbox
1. Avoid grouping in your inbox2. Scan from older e‐mails to newest
Step 2: Processing your inbox
1. Process all the e‐mails one by one2. Process them equally
Inbox
Read the email
Action ?
Take lessTake lessthan 2 min ?
Delete
Someday
Ref Docs
No
Yes
Do it
Yes
Delegate it
Defer it Next Actions
Waiting ForNo
3. Reviewing
We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.
Aristotle
Make a daily review of your different folders
4. Sending
http://www.flickr.com/photos/saimo_mx70/2877100879
Nothing is needed (nanni mo iranu)
Remember that to you are not the only one who send e‐mails
Get and keep attention
Structure of an e‐mail
1. To, Cc, Bcc2. Subject 3. Body4. Attachments5. Options
“When 2 people or more are in charge then nobody is”
David Allen
To:
People to whom you are directly speakingPeople who must take an action
Cc:
People who are not involved directly in the e‐mail message but would benefit from reading its content
FYI:
Bcc:
For mass emailing only
Subject:
An e‐mail subject should be like a title of a book
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zitona/4053097146
Subject:
The goal of a subject is to summarize a message without being too wordy or too vague
Remember that people scan their inbox by subject
Body:
You are what you write
AB
C
Body:
Be concise and to the point
Reduce ambiguity
Avoid large font, color feature …
Examples
Questions ?
Thanks a lot for your attention