Email is now an accepted form of communication, perceived as cheap and immediate and regarded as either an advantage or necessary evil.  But just how instant and reliable is email?

Have you ever sent an important email only to learn it hasn't arrived? Perhaps you've waited all day for an email that was supposedly sent hours ago? This month AGUK provides a brief insight into how emails work and system hiccups.

Along with the dramatic growth in email usage came unsolicited email (spam) and the ever increasing risk of email viruses. Email providers and systems have struggled to battle against these threats and, as a result, many email users are noticing some side effects. What was once a method of near instant communication has become less so and there are a number of reasons for this:

• Congestion
  The internet, just like the UK road transport system, can get congested with traffic. Emails travel via the internet's equivalent of a road network, with traffic lights and junctions along the way to stop them bumping into each other and getting lost. Just as there are rush hours on the road, the same happens on the internet;  at busy times, the traffic slows down and queues start to form. Hence, an email sent off-peak, say, in the middle of the night, arrives immediately, yet one sent at 16:45 can be held up by a closing day's congestion. 
• Security Checkpoints
  As a result of the growth in spam and viruses, the number of security checkpoints has increased. Airports are a good analogy here.  When you jet away on holiday, or business, you may find yourself held up by Customs and kept waiting while your credentials are checked.  The same can happen with your email;  it is called "Greylisting".  A first email from you to anyone can be delayed by a few minutes to a few hours while credentials are checked. Similarly, just as a frequent traveller can be recognised by Customs and simply waved through checkpoints, the same can apply to your email. 
• Checking Your Bags
  In addition to primary checks, further checks may be made.  As in the airport analogy whereby Customs choose to check some bags and sift through their contents, so a similar action is taken with emails. Many email systems now check the contents of emails for abusive words, or anything appearing to be spam, and will check attachments for harmful viruses. Again, like Customs, they only have the capacity to carry out so many checks at once. Consequently, your email may end up in a queue for checking before it is forwarded to its recipient. Plus, the bigger an email attachment, the longer the check. 
• Out For Lunch
  Where immediacy is concerned, an aspect of email often overlooked by senders is an assumption that recipients are at their desks, with their email clients open to receive messages.  However, if they are chatting to a colleague by the coffee machine, in a meeting, or out for lunch, there will be an obvious delay in reply.  A much longer delay will occur if your email recipient is actually away, and has not set up an automatic message to notify you of their leave of absence and date of return.

What Can I Do?

Here are our tips:

• Understand and appreciate how emails work.  They are fast, economic and effective but should not be relied on as a fail-safe form of instant communication.
• Where urgency is paramount, consider the alternatives of either reverting to the long trusted technology of the telephone, or using a mobile/fax/or SMS text messaging service.
• If you know your addressee needs time to respond but want to check your email has arrived safely, set up a receipt confirmation request.
• Show email consideration to others:  if you are going to be out of the office for any length of time, set up an automatic email advice notification to explain your absence, giving the name of a colleague if the matter requires attention before your return.
• Ensure emails containing customer data are handled correctly, and your email policy complies with the Data Protection Act

Emails - a blessing or a curse?  Is your business time squandered by instantly reading and responding to emails, or do you postpone action and store up trouble for yourself?  Glancing at subject headings in the "I'll deal with that later" mode leads to an overloaded inbox with crucial emails buried.
 
Haphazard handling of inboxes can consume working days in a Catch 22 way, and waste hundreds of hours over a year. This month is about tackling bad habits and getting to grips with effective email management.

Avoid Compulsive and Impulsive Actions

Becoming addicted to your inbox is easy.  Constantly checking your inbox, either looking for new messages or responses to your own emails, fritters away precious time and can become a compulsive habit.  Don't do it.  
 
If your email program has a notification flash or noise announcing new mail, fight the temptation to check your inbox. Impulsive distractions like this disrupt work and can break your train of thought.  Instinctively you will also scan previously read emails as if they have changed. Unless your primary function is email responding, shut down your email client/program.

Email Managment

Instead of random email scanning, set aside a specific time each day to work on your inbox. Devoting 30 or 60 minutes of uninterrupted time should be sufficient, and beneficial. Read all emails before answering them.  This will stop you missing updated messages and replying too soon.

Housekeeping

Use your email client/program to your benefit.  A chronological date setting for email receipt is common but reverse date order can be better. Start at the top and do not move onto the next email until you have handled the first.  Create subject folders and sub folders to manage your emails efficiently, and to track progress quickly on different issues. 

Processing Mail

AGUK endorses the 4Ds system and recommends using it like a mantra:

• Delete
  Be decisive and use your delete button. If an email contains information that is not immediately useful, and will have no use within the next six months, delete it.
• Do
  If you can do what the email requires within two minutes, do it.  It's as simple as that.
• Delegate
  Can you delegate action required by the email?  It takes minutes to read and forward an email so delegate instantly.
• Defer
  If you have to defer action, don't forget it. Create a task or calendar reminder detailing what is needed by when. Most email clients/programs allow you to generate a task from an email with a couple of clicks. Once you have generated the task and added it to your task list, delete the email.

Information Only Emails

A large percentage of emails are information only. Their content value can be classified in one of two ways: Delete or File. Before you file, think - "Do I really need this?"  Filing emails should be done only where necessary.

Empty Inbox

An empty inbox is a realistic goal. It comes with practice and good housekeeping. If your inbox is already bursting don't overburden yourself clearing it in one session. Stick to an hour a day and watch it shrink.

In a competitive business world, speed is of the essence.  Email messaging is the fastest form of written communication, however,  the saying “More speed, less haste” is very apt when it comes to sending emails and here we look at why.  

EMAIL MESSAGING

An over eagerness to send an email can cause embarrassment and even result in costly mistakes. In many cases a lack of understanding how email messaging works leads to such errors. Better knowledge and more care is all it takes to avoid monumental mistakes.

Email Nightmares

When an email is sent to one recipient only, an apology may be all that’s needed if a mistake is made. It’s a different matter altogether when others are unwittingly involved.  Imagine any of these scenarios:

• You email a special offer to new customers and accidentally copy in your long-standing customers
• You email new suppliers for a quote and accidentally send the enquiry to your regular suppliers
• You respond to a tender but accidentally reply to all, revealing your bid to competitors

In the first example, you risk losing long-standing customers through revealing new customers get preferential treatment. In the second case, you risk upsetting your regular suppliers by alerting them to the fact you are looking for new ones.  In the last, you have shown your hand unnecessarily to your rivals.

Multiple Messaging:  Send Errors

Email nightmares can occur through using the wrong “fields” when preparing to submit an email simultaneously to multiple recipients.  When you click the “Send” button, any addresses showing in either the “To” or “Cc” (carbon copy) field will be openly transmitted. In other words, every addressee will see the names of all your email recipients. A further worry is that you could even find yourself in breach of the Data Protection Act. Suddenly that simple email is potentially breaking the law. Learn how to use the “Bcc” (blind carbon copy) field correctly and you will avoid these errors.

Multiple Messaging:  Reply Errors

Understanding the implications of completing the correct fields when sending multiple messaging emails is only half the battle. Replying to them holds its own dangers.  

When you find yourself receiving an email sent simultaneously to others, be careful how you respond to it. If you fire off your email and hit the “Reply all” button instead of “Reply”, your response will be sent to everyone.  Did you really want all of them to see it? Less haste when you hit the button is the answer.

Our Multiple Messaging Tips

As we all start working faster and become overly familiar with email, it is all too easy to go into "auto pilot" and hit buttons without checking fields.  Remember:

• Never send or reply to an email without exercising caution
• Turn on your automatic spell checker when writing your email. This will slow you down, and prompt you to double-check all information, including any listed recipients, before transmission
• Always check the “To” and “Cc” fields before hitting “Send” 
• If you are unfamiliar with using the “Bcc” field then manually insert/delete recipient names as appropriate
• Change your mail settings so that emails are not sent instantly but every few minutes;  that way you can stop an email in your outbox if you have to amend it 
• Use the “Reply all” button sparingly – if at all