I can still remember one of my college roommates talking about his new email account. The first to have one on our dorm floor, he would announce every time he sent or received one.
My, how times have changed. Originally a novelty, turned tool, has become a burden.
While I won't look back on this time - the 2020s - as the years I was bad at email, these days, I can't help but notice it, every day.
Yes, I'm bad at email. But apparently, I'm not the only one. Friends, colleagues, mentors, and professionals whom I respect and admire, are also talking about...being bad at email.
So in the spirit of "writing to learn", here are a few thoughts on, what else, email.
Hopefully some of these thoughts help. And if you feel like you're reading an email diary or a transcript on email therapy, you may just be right. Email has gotten that bad.
And apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks so.
3 Thoughts on Email:
#1: Email should not and cannot replace face-to-face conversation. If we allow this, email will only get worse, and become more burdensome. The best emails I write are those that are three sentences or five lines or fewer. (Sadly, I'm proud of these, and feel a sense of satisfaction.) What if we started using email to invite or confirm a conversation, or to follow-up with pertinent documentation to the face-to-face meeting?
#2: Email shouldn't be used to reprimand or present information that may be easily misconstrued by the recipient. An email with a message to one person should not be sent to a group, leaving someone to wonder, "What have I done wrong, to deserve this?" or "Why am I getting this if it's meant for the one person, who isn't fazed by this group email, if it's even being read at all by that person? What if we started picking up the phone again?
#3: Email shouldn't replace what our priorities. It's a tool, meant to add efficiency. However, if we're stuck reading and responding to emails, we're not doing most other things. Being present and visible for the people we serve. Being proactive and predictable, in certain place at certain times on certain days. This gives people comfort, and builds dependability and trust. If we're "stuck on email", we're not fulfilling even our most basic responsibilities.
So I've outlined three of the biggest problems (not challenges, problems) with email. And while I feel better at the moment, I know it's only fleeting, until the next email barrage. Here are a few ideas to make a tool like email work for you, again. (Please share your strategies too, because I'm challenged by this every day, and I'm not alone.)
Strategy 1: Pick times to read and respond to email. It shouldn't be when you have access to those you serve. Nor should it be when your energy is required for the day's meaningful tasks. It shouldn't be when it's good for you, but it's not for the recipient. Select times that work for you, but time messages to go out so they don't compromise the time or attention of the recipient. Being intentional will lead to gradual improvement, not perfection.
Strategy 2: Think about why you're using email, instead of calling, stopping by, or meeting. If it's to get it off your plate, stop and think. Because email is funny in that, it very easily becomes the burden of the recipient. To foster collegiality and a shared responsibility of work, reconsider sending that message with an email. Setting up a meeting where everyone responsible for the outcome can contribute their full time and attention will deliver results.
Strategy 3: Email is a tool. You don't work for it. And if you find yourself feeling as though you work for it, it won't work for you. I recently had an email exchange with someone who is widely known to "never use email". I scoffed at the idea, thinking, "I'm sure that's exaggeration." Well, when I got his one sentence email, and read his signature, I realized, he may be onto something: his signature referenced his previous position and previous workplace...from five years prior. Knowing the simplicity with which he approaches work, I've mistook minimalism for being behind in the times. His email was in response to a question. His response, one line, and barely one sentence, supplied me with the information I needed.
This topic's one that's been on my mind for some time now. And it's funny, because as I've been mulling it over how I'd compose this piece, I've also been reinforcing bad habits involving email, some of which I have written about here. If nothing else, heading into a new workweek, I'm going to be more mindful of my use of "tools" such as email. Because if it isn't working for me, that shouldn't mean that I work for it. How do you make email for you?
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