Hopefully in the last week, you’ve tried some of the tips from my last post, and spent more face-to-face time talking with people, instead of defaulting to email. This round, I wanted to address more ways to shrink the Email Monster – one of which might even help your personal relationships.

Another problem we often see is the lengthy CC list.  It’s too easy to burn hours of someone else’s week up by carbon copying them on every topic you think they might be remotely interested in. This is very frustrating for the recipient spending time every day receiving a lot of messages that they don’t really want.

Sometimes, this is done as a type of indirect coercion or name-dropping.  (“If your boss sees this too, you’ll know I’m serious about it). There are more honest, direct ways to communicate.

If the reason for copying is positive – to really assist a group of people in collaboration, staying in touch with critical info they really need to know, then great! Just reevaluate your reasons and make sure the list is no longer than it NEEDS to be. Alternatively, you can use a different tool - something that’s really designed for group posting – Yammer or a SharePoint Project Portal, for instance. These really excel at rapid, efficient group communication and easy, fast reading. Email is lousy at this – slow for the senders and the recipients alike.

Nope – I’m not swearing. I’m referring to the audible or visual indicators many people use for incoming messages - a desktop popup window, beep, Blackberry tone or vibration, etc.

We actually have a company policy requiring that these indicators be turned off. If your laptop, desktop, Blackberry, iPhone, or whatever is taking your attention away from a conversation, meeting, or project when SOMEONE ELSE sends you a message, you’re killing your productivity and that of others.

Time management experts recommend you set aside two times during the day to check and reply to emails; mid-morning and mid-afternoon, for example. By doing this, you are controlling your own time and mental focus – not the several thousand other people around you who happened to hit “send” at any given moment of the day.

There are exceptions – some roles that mandate monitoring email constantly. If this is the case for you (Sales, Service Desk , Maintenance, etc.), then it’s fine. For you, email is a tool that’s time-sensitive, and you have to pay attention. HOWEVER, know when to turn it off! I’ve heard from a few people of Blackberries thrown out of the dining room during dinner, or the bedroom at night.