As we allow email to govern themselves and what to do

If you work with e-mail it seems to you, if you play the game, where you need to "catch up" with a hammer suddenly gets out in one or the other mink mole, you're not alone. Email the default - the main channel of business communication. By evaluations Radicati Group, the average office clerk receives about 100 emails a day. This number is increasing annually by 15%. In July 2012, consulting firm McKinsey Global Institute published a report entitled "The social economy: increasing value and productivity through social technologies »(The Social Economy: Unlocking Value and Productivity through Social Technologies). It says that the rank and file employees spend 28% of their time working for the management of e-mail.

Think about it. If you have a 50-hour working week, the 14 hours have you spend reading and writing emails. It is unlikely that you spend as much time in Word, Excel or other work programs.

Perhaps these figures would not be a problem if the email was indeed an effective communication channel. Rather, it is so for some companies. But in most cases it is not. Of course, e-mail has the right to exist, but do not get involved. research

showThat constant checking of incoming lowers IQ.

In recent years, email has become a real scourge of business communications. Nevertheless, it should not be blamed for all the ills. Blaming technology is convenient: it's a good excuse not to look in the mirror. After all, if we look inside, you will understand that the problem is not in the email as such, but how we use them.

The point is not to give up e-mail (although some do). The idea is to use it rationally.

Where to begin?

Understand, email ≠ conversation

By e-mail can not engage in dialogue in the same way as in real life. In the letters there is always time intervals, and text messages are not intended to close friendship shown to the other party. Justin Kruger (Justin Kruger) from New York University and Nicholas Epley (Nicholas Epley) University of Chicago provedThat in the absence of non-verbal signals people incorrectly interpret emails.

Psychologists have found that to properly interpret the mood is only half of the cases obtained in a text message. Smilies, alas, does not help, for example, to distinguish the humor of sarcasm. This often leads to misunderstandings. Are you ready every time to throw a coin in an attempt to guess whether your interlocutor is clear promise?

Follow the rule of three letters

Accepting the fact that email is not the best place for intimate conversations, go into action.

Use the rule of three letters: if the issue is not resolved in three e-mails, you need a personal meeting.

It is applicable to solutions as the administrative tasks (for example, meeting planning) as well as personal. It will save you a lot of time and will protect from a variety of disappointments. However, like it is not for everyone, be prepared to discontent of some comrades. With a reasonable share of the assumptions, but it's time to get rid of the installation "on all issues got mail."

Do not decide on urgent matters email

If the problem is really important and requires immediate action, not solve it in e-mails. To do this, there is a telephone. Let this be a rule in your company.

Do not use email to manage tasks

E-mail - this is not a task manager. But many people use email in their capacity as such. No wonder they are constantly distracted. I opened the box, to consult with the tasks, and you hit the flow of business and personal communications. It is easy to switch to them, forgetting what the open e-mail client.

Task management have separate applications: Todoist, DropTask, Flow and others. This is not an email replacement, they are aimed at goals that you are trying to achieve.

The same project management. Trello, Asana or Basecamp - comfortable and affordable tools that will save you from the kilometer-long conversations.

Do not think about how to communicate to the coal mining in the mine

Few people are free in their labor relations. Many They hate their jobs, Including the fact that they can not choose their colleagues, customers and partners. Some of them are too "busy" to talk on the phone - better write a dozen posts, instead of two minutes to discuss everything in words.

In this case, you need to pay attention to the manner of their communication (words, speed and so on). Ask yourself if you really want to interact with people who shy away from the phone and speaking. Look to the applicants the vacant position in your company to potential clients or possible future suppliers. If they initially communicate as if mined ore in the mine, what are the chances that they will change?

Be aware of life beyond email

She is! Do not be afraid to close mailbox. The world did not collapse. This is obvious, but for many can be a revelation. So, in the company of Klick Health banned employees use e-mail. According to its Director General, email - a tool to cede control over themselves to others.

What do you think: whether or not the e-mail manipulates people, Forcing them tasks and order of their execution?