Management Tip of the Day: Make Email More Efficient with Built-In Rules

 

Are you having trouble viewing this email? If so, click here to see it in a web browser.

February 21, 2014 Make Email More Efficient with Built-In Rules A mail rule tells your email program how to handle certain kinds of messages. Each rule is made up of two parts: the criteria that determine whether a particular message will trigger a rule, and the action or actions that run once the rule is triggered. Rules can have a dramatic effect on your email efficiency. For example, set up a "scheduling" rule to shunt all scheduling requests, meeting invitations, and meeting acceptances to a separate folder for review once or twice a day. You can even write your rule with exceptions so that anything marked urgent lands in your inbox, not your "scheduling" folder. Adapted from Work Smarter, Rule Your Email by Alexandra Samuel.

PREVIOUS TIPS Maintain Motivation in a Troubled Organization Let Your Employees Control Their Workspaces Get Out of Your Comfort Zone Rely on Routines to Free Your Mental Energy Identify Your Best Change Agents To Manage Your Workload, Defer Early and Often

BEST SELLERS HBR's 10 Must Reads: The Essentials | HBR's 10 Must Reads Boxed Set | HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations | HBR Guide to Better Business Writing | HBR Guide to Getting the Right Work Done

FEATURED PRODUCT The First 90 Days App for iPhone and Android MAKE YOUR NEXT CAREER TRANSITION A SUCCESS. Download The First 90 Days App today to help you stay ahead of the game. Download on the App Store Download on Google Play

FEATURED PRODUCT The Moment of Clarity: Using the Human Sciences to Solve Your Toughest Business Problems HBR Press Book Authors Christian Madsbjerg and Mikkel Rasmussen examine the business world's assumptions about human behavior and show how these assumptions can lead businesses off track. Using theories and tools from the human sciences—anthropology, sociology, philosophy, and psychology—The Moment of Clarity introduces a practical framework called sensemaking. Sensemaking's nonlinear problem-solving approach gives executives a better way to understand business challenges involving shifts in human behavior. This new methodology, a fundamentally different way to think about strategy, is already taking off in Fortune 100 companies around the world. Through compelling case studies and their direct experience with LEGO, Samsung, Adidas, Coloplast, and Intel, Madsbjerg and Rasmussen will show you how to solve problems as diverse as setting company direction, driving growth, improving sales models, understanding the real culture of your organization, and finding your way in new markets. Buy Now

ADVERTISEMENT

HBR.ORG | THE MAGAZINE | BLOGS | BOOKS | CASES | STORE | SUBSCRIBE TO HBR UNSUBSCRIBE | NEWSLETTERS PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT Copyright © 2013 Harvard Business School Publishing, an affiliate of Harvard Business School. All rights reserved. Harvard Business Publishing 60 Harvard Way Boston, MA 02163 CUSTOMER SERVICE: 800-545-7685 (US/Canada) 1-617-783-7600 (outside the U.S. and Canada)