By Michelle LaBrosse
Every year, the fashion and trend industries come out with their big announcement of "fall must-haves."
One year it's short skirts and animal prints, the next year it's long prairie skirts and the color yellow. TV networks come out with their "fall line-up" and elementary schools unveil their coveted list of school supplies.
I love this time of year because of its sense of newness and its ability to transform who you were last season into a whole new you, this season. With that said, I decided to put together my own list of "fall must-haves" targeted to the email user in all of us.
Whether you have PMP at the end of your name or not, project management tools can be applied to email, will take you pretty far, and will continue to stay in-trend season after season. That's because good email organization, like a Jacqueline Kennedy "little black dress," is timeless and will always be in style and useful.
Below are my five "must-haves" for this fall and beyond. If you want to get sane with email, this is a good start.
Tip #1: Ax the time-killers
One of the often-complained-of time-robbers is email. But information from other sources can waste time as well if not handled properly.
Unsubscribe to emails that offer no value to you. Are you spending too much time deleting emails that you no longer read? It's time for a clean sweep. Go through your email box and spend 15 minutes a day unsubscribing to emails that are just cluttering up your email box. It's worth unsubscribing, rather than just marking them as spam, because the messages no longer take processing cycles from your server and Outlook for each message.
Set email standards for your team. Many of us waste time reading emails that are not relevant to us. Set some rules in your office about the protocol for copying others on emails. Make sure you copy only those who need the information.
Flex your email management muscle. Choose specific time blocks to read and answer emails so you can have uninterrupted time to think, write, and give your most strategic work the attention that it needs.
Tip #2: Use color coding for organizing information
In the same way that a physical report or project plan is much easier to read if assignments and contacts are differentiated by a color code, size, or shape, so too can your email. Take advantage of Outlooks many colorizing and categorization features to organize and color-code your messages.
When done with shared folders, this process improves communication and a shared understanding of the project. It also builds relationships between departments and coworkers.
Tip #3: Give your brain a break with keywords
Keywords trigger your instant recall. Think of them as a headline that sums up the entire article. Use keywords in any communication materials you create so people can remember your top messages. Seek keywords in materials you receive to help you mentally retrieve the information.
