No matter how hard you try, if you are in business there is no way of getting around the need for electronic mail…yes, the infamous EMAIL.  Today, electronic messages take on all kinds of new forms.  There are text messages, video chats, DM on Twitter, Facebook Message and the list goes on.  No matter how a communication is received the issue with managing the large numbers of them has not gone away.  How to manage them seems to be a daunting task.  However, no matter the volume these messages can be managed effectively and responses can be given to all of them if they are asking for one.

I receive on average 150 emails a day…I say ‘average’, since I do get much more some days and fewer on others.  You can see, that even at this low volume if I do not manage it the volume will get out of hand quickly.  Many business people receive thousands of emails a day making the issue of managing their situation a real challenge.  However, if they had not taken action to manage the emails effectively they would be like so many who get overwhelmed and delete them all.  To delete emails out of frustration is very uncalled for, unnecessary and shows a lack of professionalism.  

So, how do you manage large volumes of emails? 

Preventive Measures

The very first thing someone should do is take preventive measures on eliminating unnecessary messages.  Stopping some of the emails at the front door is the best approach. There are number of processes I use and have passed on to others that really do work. 

First you need to publish your email guidelines in a public place, like on your blog, business web-site, Facebook and LinkedIn profiles .  Yes, giving a clear directive does work.  In the guidelines state clearly how emails received will be handled or even outline guidelines someone needs to follow to communicate with you.  I understand this feels strange and unsociable to many, but this really works.  If someone is serious enough to follow these guidelines then they are someone you probably want to communicate with. 

Within your guidelines provide the viewer with instructions to place a specific Keyword into the Subject line of their message they send.  This helps to identify friends from non-friends.  This should reduce the number of emails placed in your spam folder by mistake.

Also state how frequently you check emails.  I have found this is the most important portion of the process. I know many business people have a routine of checking emails at the beginning, middle and end of the day.  However, to keep from getting a build up of emails during those sessions I highly recommend a more frequent scan of the inbox.  On busy days when I am away from the office I will make it a practice to scan and respond to emails every 90 minutes.  I scheduled into my busy days a break every 90 minutes for this task.  This has worked for a few years now and keeps me from cutting my after golf activities short to read emails or to staying up late at night responding to messages that need an urgent response.  

You can outline other things like stating how you deal with spam and non-compliance if you like.  Just make sure whatever you state in your guidelines you are willing to do.  Not enforcing the guidelines voids the need for it.  One of the main advantages of producing email guidelines is if someone does not follow the guidelines then it makes the second step easier.

Divide and Conqueror

Naturally, a significant number of the emails sent to a business person are a lame attempts to sell them something or provide them with information they have absolutely no interest in getting.  There are a large number of four letter words used to describe this mess but SPAM seems to be the one that is universally acceptable.

After your email guidelines has been in effect for a few months it should be very easy to administer the second portion of the process which is to decide quickly what is spam and what is not.  Once you have scanned your inbox folder for guideline compliance then you can get down to work of quickly deleting non-compliance and reading the emails that really matter.

You can even sort out all the emails received from one person and read them in order to quickly get through a large number of emails they produce.  This should leave the remaining emails from newbies which could take a little longer to read but hold new and important information. 

Respond Quickly

The second most important portion of this process has to deal with the timeliness of a response to everyone.  I am sure you have received a response days after the email you sent.  What takes place with responses not made in a timely manor has to deal with the deterioration of respect and trust of the person processing the response.  In some cases I have heard people say it would have been better they had not gotten a response to their email than getting the response days later.

I suggest to everyone to at the very minimal make a response to everyone who follows your guidelines in some manor.  If there is not time to respond I suggest sending a ‘Blip’ stating you need to think about something or will get back to them at a specific time that allows you more time to respond.  

It is very understandable to not get an immediate response to an email.   I have set as a personal goal to respond to every email within the time frame I set in my schedule for the day for email reviews.  Even if it is just to say ‘OK’ as the response..it at least shows respect to the person that you received the message and are working on it.  It is the very least I can do for them to take the time to go through my guidelines to communicate with me.

‘A List’ Provisions

Over time, every business person has (or should) established a list of people they communicate with frequently.  This could be on a personal or professional level.  The list of people you have frequent communications becomes the ‘A List’ of contacts.  In the case where someone has been placed on the ‘A List’ it sometimes is appropriate to advice them of how to contact you outside of the normal line of email communications.  Sometimes it is good to provide them with access to your Smartphone so they can text you.  This develops a tighter communication and will eliminate a large number of emails hitting the inbox.  Of course, this level of communication needs to be limited and possibly have another set of guidelines set for these ‘A Lister’ so they do not bombard you with text messages.

One of the first indicators of a change in the economy, good or bad, is the volume of emails received. When the economy gets bad you get flooded with emails about all kinds of opportunities.  When the economy gets better you get the same opportunities emailed however, a good economy seems to stimulate people to communicate more.  Either way, managing emails has to be done and it has to be done effectively if a business is to stay competitive.  In cases where the volumes are staggering, the option could be to hire someone to perform the process outline here.  Again, which everyway you go about managing the emails..make sure there is a response to everyone involved.

I hope this helps you improve your communication with everyone and let me know how I can help.