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July 2006: Manage This … Too Much E-Mail and Too Many Interruptions

E-mail Tips

It’s safe to say every working professional feels inundated by e-mails these days. Here are some tips to manage it.

• Check e-mail once or twice per day as opposed to more—turn the noise off that tells you every time an e-mail comes in.
• Organize e-mails into files, so that your Inbox is empty each day. This saves significant time in that you are not looking at e-mail more than once unless necessary. After reading each, either delete or save into a file.
• Read e-mails from most recent to least recent (sometimes the most recent ones answer a question).
• Be more concise with your e-mail.
• In e-mail, think before cc:ing people--it's important to ensure there is adequate communication, but you don't want to send it to people who don't need to see it.

For more e-mail tips, contact me at kerrie@halmiperformance.com

Managing interruptions

While managers need to maintain an “open door” policy in order to facilitate communication, some take is so far that they are never able to work without interruptions. Remember my statistic in the June e-zine about interruptions? Schedule regular meeting times with each of your direct reports and ask that as much as possible, people consolidate their questions for these times. Try to set aside some time each day in which your office is open and some times in which you are dealing with projects that need to be done without interruption. Communicate these times with your people. One of my clients uses a “Project Time” sign that people put up when they need to work on a project uninterrupted.

As a leader, you can create a culture of respect for others’ times. This will make a big difference in your time and the people who report to you.

To get one-on-one coaching or training and learn more specific ways to use your time well, contact Kerrie Halmi at Halmi Performance Consulting: kerrie@halmiperformance.com or 510-336-0654.

Manage this …if you work with people, you deal with conflict. How can you better manage it? More details right here on the second Monday in August.

Please pass this to others who would benefit from it.

If you want specific references for any of the material, please let me know.

About the Author: Kerrie Halmi is a coach and facilitator specializing in people management skills. Her passion is increasing women’s success in business. See www.halmiperformance.com

Past articles are on www.halmiperformance.com Terms of Reprint: You have permission to publish this article in your newsletter, e-zine or on your website as long as you print the entire article, unchanged and include the copyright and “About the Author” information (Resource Box) and all links. Please e-mail Kerrie@halmiperformance.com to let the author know where and when the article will appear.