I have been preparing to teach some leadership classes at work, so I have been reading a lot of books on being better managers and leaders and have stumbled across some ideas about email I had never heard before from the the Time Management Ninja.
My current workplace as a huge problem with email! We tend to get overloaded and since our headquarters is in the states and a day behind, we usually get more emails than phone calls. While reading all this I was convicted and convinced that I no longer needed to be chained to my computer waiting for another email, so I wrote an email outlining how I was going to do email from that point forward and sent it out to those who needed to know.
Not long after that, questions started pouring in about why I said what I said and was doing what I was doing, it grew into a manifesto of sorts.
Here is what changed:
1. I will only check work twice a day, before and after work-I let folks know that if they needed to get a hold of me they could call me. If I needed to sign a document they could print it and call me I would come sign it, and if it required a digital signature, it would get signed that evening or the next morning.
2. I will only send email that is a tasking from higher- if I need to give you information or ask a question, I will go to them and ask them. The problem we have is we are so prone to sending emails and saying things we would say in person. This also helps me to get to know those folks I work with and work for me.
So how does this work? It works fine, I have so much more time to do my other work, to think, to dream, to manage, and to enjoy my lunch instead of answering emails while eating!
I must admit that the temptation to check email every time I walk into my office is sometimes so overpowering that I have actually caught myself opening up Outlook before stopping myself.
