TOOMANY Managing Them Instead of Them Managing  You EMAILS TONY JEARY with MARC  HARTY GEORGE  LOWE SARA  BOWLING

Table of Contents HOW EFFICIENT IS YOUR EMAIL? ............................................. 7 PHILOSOPHY ........................................................................... 8 What is an e-presentation? ................................................10 What you’ll get from reading this book...............................11 INCOMING EMAIL...................................................................12 OUTGOING EMAIL ..................................................................20 Be brief ................................................................................22 Be clear................................................................................24 Be simple..............................................................................26 Be prompt............................................................................27 Be careful ............................................................................28 Other outgoing email tips....................................................30 SAVING TIME AND CREATING TEAM CULTURE  ......................36 GLOBAL TIPS ...........................................................................40 APPENDIX ..............................................................................46 List of abbreviations ...........................................................47 Standards checklist ............................................................48

7 HOW EFFICIENT IS YOUR EMAIL? If you check any of the following, this handbook is for you. q    Is email an important part of your daily life? q    Do you get over 50 emails a day and often can’t make time to read them all? q    Would you like to save hours every week by becoming more effective and efficient with email? q    Do you regularly receive emails that are too long and unclear? q    Do you tire of having too many carbon copy and blind carbon copy emails in your inbox? q    Would you like to have the people who send you emails understand better how you’d like to receive them?

8      PHILOSOPHY

10 What is an e-presentation? An e-presentation is simply a presentation made electronically.  E-presentations are made by PowerPoint, on the internet, in DVD and CD formats, and of course the most popular of all—email.  In today’s electronic culture, e-presentation skills and etiquette should be studied, learned, and practiced.  Too Many Emails is about email presentation mastery.  Such a skill wasn’t needed a few years ago, but it is absolutely essential today. Many people have good writing skills, effective communication abilities, and technical know-how, but few apply these talents successfully with email.  Too Many Emails will show you how to master email.

11 What you’ll get from reading this book Email differs from other methods of communication because it is instantaneous, impersonal, and usually irreversible.  Additionally, this widely-used communication tool enables the same message to be simultaneously sent to a broad distribution group. Through email you and your colleagues can now manage meetings, action items, strategic plans, and almost every other aspect of business.  Many have learned their email skills by default rather than via specific training.  As a result, unless email is properly utilized, time and money can be wasted with every email sent and received. We’ve all received emails that were poorly constructed, inefficiently distributed, or contained inappropriate content.  Maybe we’ve even been guilty of sending such communications. Too Many Emails will give you the tools and techniques to create a culture of email effectiveness.  As you read this handbook, highlight tips, strategies, and skills you can apply to email.  Record your comments as you concentrate on one section at a time.  You can learn to manage email effectively and efficiently.  These best practices and examples are practical steps to make email easy. Note:  There are exceptions to virtually any of the guidelines and rules suggested within Too Many Emails. Each person and organization has their own circumstances, styles, and systems.  So, as you read and study each of these suggestions, filter what works for you, and highlight the ideas you need to implement.