2. Scope
Emails are one part of information exchange. Managing this information helps to organise work
tasks and save time on repeating tasks and stay in touch with other people.
- Sorting, archiving and deleting emails
- Signature, out of office replies, Calendar and rules
- Documents
3. Sorting, archiving and deleting emails
Emails are normally subscribed to, requested or contact and notifications. We will sort them by
purpose or topic or sender (VIP). Flag emails for later and set reminder to care about them.
- Folder for each subscription (or topic of)
- Folder for VIPs
- Folder for tasks or requests
- Folder to keep records of information
Delete everything read but not important to keep, reply shortly to inform that you read it and
how to move on (put it out of your mind)
4. Signature, out-of-office replies
A signature informs the recipient about you and your business. Both are
important to keep the good manners and show respect (as you would like to be
treated), provide the option to call and make sure to reach the right recipient (if
he/she don’t know about you or your business they might let you know). Make
sure you use a signature on your mobile too.
Courtesy applies that you reply to emails ASAP (if not requested, subscribed to),
even if you are not in the office.
5. Calendar and rules
Calendar and meeting schedules are important to keep track of your time and allows others to
request time from you. Share the calendar with colleagues and managers and provide enough
information to make clear what appointments you have (place, topic, third parties…or private).
Rules can help to sort and deal with emails automatically. Keep track of the rules. Don’t use
rules to sort away important VIP emails before you read them.
6. Documents
Documents are not a good way to exchange information via emails.
As the content is not instantly available, the user has to open it to read it, save and attach it to
reply (and name it to identify different versions). Emails are suppose to be short (one page).
If you need to collaborate on documents you should use a platform to exchange them and keep
track like SharePoint, Google or other version control tools. Send the link to the document to
inform about changes. If you spread documents as information, use a website to host them and
send the link instead.
