In 2015, according to a study, over 200 billion emails were sent and received each day worldwide. There were also about billion email users and emails in existence that same year. Meanwhile, this year, another study proposed that there will be over 3 billion email users across the globe by the end of 2017.
Like other Internet products or services, email has brought its share of advantages and disadvantages. Most of which are a result of its good efficiency. Nevertheless, email is not the problem, the way we use it can cause a drain on our overall performance and productivity at work.
Here, in this post, some of the mistakes we make with an email which in turn causes us to produce low.
#1 Multiple Email Client
Many people among us have more than one email account from different email service providers. It is bad enough that emails are concealed us every day from all ends without having to switch constantly between email accounts to follow up on these messages. Doing these kinds of activities takes time from our work. So, we conclude the day having achieved less.
To get rid of this, use a comprehensive email platform on your PC, laptop, and mobile such as Outlook application. It helps you to keep track of your emails from multiple sources. It is a more powerful way to deal with emails without troubling yourself.
Another way is to have separate email accounts for business, personal use, and any other purposes. It is the best way of keeping unwanted emails from out of sight and therefore, out of mind. Whether you want to say something, to send documents and information, to share an idea and plans, to plan an event, and gather feedback, do not use emails all the time. Try thinking to use the right tool for each message which you want to deliver. Emails are not always the right medium to communicate what you required.
#2 Managing Projects on Email
Handling team projects with emails lead to disappointment, misunderstanding, and confusion. Therefore at the end of the day, it results in an adverse outcome. When you are coordinating a team project, you should delegate tasks, follow up on everyone’s work.
Shift your habits and find a better way to manage your teamwork without email. Also, stop wasting your time by classifying emails. There is a search bar in the email inbox which allows you to find any information at any time. Sorting emails will take a lot of time, and it leads to poor productivity.
Emails are one of the common workplace distractions. Some people set emails to check for notifications for every few minutes. It results in bad productivity.
An average worker receives an average of 120 emails per day, and this is a potential torrent of distractions. It makes workplace communication worse and takes the time to get back to normal.
With every email notification and follow-up, you lose a lot of time. Instead of spending time on managing email notifications, manage your time in your daily schedule to check emails. Adjust your timings to notify you of any new email for every few hours, not every few minutes.
#3 Using Email for Chatting Reduces Productivity
Email is a messaging platform, not a chatting platform. However, it is addictive, and it can quickly stop us from working, for many reasons. If you want to line up a meeting with your team via email, you may find yourself mixed up in a long chain of messages which in turn make your decision-making process more complicated than normal.
Usually, we find ourselves using email for everything. But it only serves to keep our mind away from the work what we should do. The remedy for the problem is, if you need your co-worker or any other staff, just call out the person or make a call to his or her workplace.
Also, if you need to plan for meeting with some investors of your team, do make a voice or video call, not with email. Make sure not to email for everything; this could reduce your productivity. Not every email should be answered immediately. You can segregate and prioritise them accordingly.
Avoid unnecessary words in the email. Most of us do not read everything in it, so if you need to promote your job details, you can make unique things in the contents of your email by saying which part should be taken. Hence, you are saving everyone time.
#4 Excessive “CC” Communication
The basic concept of “CC” feature is to keep people around us informed. Remember that every email has to be opened, read, and then handled, even if you want to copy the email to another folder or delete it. There is no need of adding CC to more members than necessary.
You should do CC to someone only if you want them to do something with the email you are sending; otherwise, no need. Decide about when you do and do not CC someone. If you require someone to do something with the information, go ahead. Otherwise think twice when you do something.
Your team members may share these emails to some of them. But as a team leader, they follow your way that how you communicate with them. Do CC of emails to people to update them on information. When you receive an email with many people, do not send your answer to everyone. The subject of the email should be well chosen. When you receive emails, you need to understand what your email is about just by reading its subject. Show the same courtesy. Be accurate and concise.
Using capital letters will not make your email more urgent than others. The capital letters are only explained as aggressive and do not build a constructive conversation. Also, it is suggested that the “delay delivery” feature should be used so that the email is sent to the recipient later. Just make sure to define the business or personal goals you are serving.
Endnote
These are some of the mistakes we always make and they cause our productivity to reduce. Take note of the above four habits and change them.
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