Email has undoubtedly become an essential tool in business and personal life alike and its use continues to grow. The number of email users is expected to reach 3.7 billion by the end of 2017. In addition, it is projected that the number of email accounts will amount to 4.1 billion by 2020.
With so many messages and users, an effective email management system is vital for any organization. It can increase productivity and allow staff to cope with the ever-increasing volume of messages more easily.
An effective email management system will help you to:
- – manage your inbox
- – improve productivity and
- – improve your response time to mission-critical messages.
Organize your email
Sifting through piles of messages in your mailbox can be an arduous and time-consuming operation. Setting up a system that best allows you to control your inbox is vital in achieving increased efficiency. Good organization is the key. Simply delete emails that don’t require your action, as you will always be able to retrieve them from the email archive. Use your inbox for those important messages that require you to take some action.
Don’t use automatic updates
By turning off your automatic delivery notification tool, you can free up more time to focus on your important business activities. You will still have to set aside some time every day to check your email and respond to all messages that require you to take action. Marking out this time in your diary and sticking to your schedule can help in dealing with your day-to-day activities.
Be logical
Once you’ve opened an email, don’t move on to the next one before replying to it or performing the action required. By moving on to the next email, you risk forgetting about the previous message, which means you’re leaving yourself open for trouble.
Use alternative methods of communication
In certain cases, alternative methods of communication can work better than email. A quick phone call or face to face (Skype) meeting can help avoid elaborate email conversations in which you often lose the thread of the original message. The use of social media and other forms of IM (instant messaging) can also make the management of your essential email a lot easier.
Follow these tips to set up an effective email management system and help your business run more smoothly.
For more information on how to implement the right email management system, download our free whitepaper “The Top Ten Benefits of Email Archiving” by clicking the image below.
