interactions magazine | Think Before You Link: Controlling Ubiquitous Availability

Think Before You Link: Controlling Ubiquitous Availability
Karen Renaud, Judith Ramsay, Mario Hair

The survival of the species depends upon communication between its members. The mechanisms underlying human communication have long been scrutinized, from Darwin’s examination of the role of emotion, to later studies related to the ways in which people form attachments. Of particular interest are studies about how individuals and groups communicate. Whole journals are dedicated to human communication and communication disorders.

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A Suggested Personal Email Management Policy
By Richard Anderson on October 25th, 2008.

The authors suggest that once people are able to acknowledge that they are email addicts, the next step is to implement a personal email management policy.

A possible policy, based on the authors' experiences, is as follows:

Check email at fixed intervals during the day.
Close the email client in between times.
Make it known to other colleagues that you do this.
Scan all new emails and deal with them in order of importance to you.
You do not have to respond to emails immediately unless the sender has specifically requested a speedy response.
Remember – not every email requires a response: some require actions beyond and outside of the inbox. Use NRN (no response needed), if applicable, to indicate that you don’t expect a response.
Be brave and delete the really obvious useless emails without opening them (for example, we know of one person who deletes without opening anything with ‘strategic’ in the title).
When sending emails consider the “to” list very carefully. Do not copy people onto emails in case they might be interested; only include those recipients who have a direct interest in the topic.
Is your email really, truly necessary (I)? Ask yourself, “what happens if I don’t send this email?” Never reply to an email in anger – cool down first. Ask yourself, “what happens if I do send this email?”
Is your email really, truly necessary (II)? Ask yourself, “Do I honestly need to email a person or could I get a more comprehensive and objective answer (and faster!) by some other method e.g. in a book?” Especially pertinent for students.
Aim to send one person just one email, and not several “afterthought” emails later on.
Once in a while subject your inbox to some weeding. Delete everything that is historical and assign end-points (e.g. project folders) for important emails that you may need to refer to later. Keeping a well-trimmed inbox is half the battle.
Remember that (as our research shows) other people have different approaches to their email than you do. Make allowances for this and don’t expect immediate responses to your emails.
If you do need an immediate response, use the phone or instant messaging software or pop into the person’s office if possible.
Make your response expectations explicit. If you need a response by a particular date, say so.
Understand that other people may treat their inbox in a very different way from you and that is absolutely fine.
Finally, remember that the surest way to receive more email is to send out emails. The fewer you send (and that includes responding to emails) the fewer you will receive.

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