A study by Atlassian, showed that on average, office workers receive over 300 emails a week. Some workers receive that many emails or even more in a single day! Many users suffer from email overload.
To deal with the influx of messages, the same study showed that 80% of workers always keep their email open. Others resort to checking it at a rate of 36 times an hour!
A recent Business Insider article highlighted that although considered digital natives, many Generation Z (the worker demographic born between the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2010s) entrants to the workforce do not know how to write an email.
Writing emails can be a large part of office work. The New York Post reports that “the average employee spends 10 hours and 47 minutes a week drafting emails.” Although AI tools like Grammarly and Microsoft Copilot have great potential to help fill these gaps, to get the most out of these programs, workers need to start with a solid foundation.
Here are five tips to help you get more from your email.
1. Learn Basic Email Skills
Email is a way to send a message electronically to a recipient using the internet.
This 8-part tutorial from GCF Global provides a thorough tutorial for those new to the world of email. Section 9 is a quiz to check your knowledge.
2. Use Keyboard Shortcuts
By default, computers prioritize keyboard signals over mouse clicks.
Often if you are already typing, you can save time by using keyboard combinations to perform tasks instead of using the mouse. For example, you could use CTRL+C to copy and CTRL+V to paste.
Here are links to the keyboard shortcuts for some popular email apps:
Users should be sure to thoroughly learn the email software they are using. Most email service providers have training materials and a built-in help feature to guide you.
You can also take interactive live training such as our two upcoming three-part series Managing Email using Outlook and Quick Tips for Using Outlook to help booster the skills you've learned on your own.
3. Use Rules and Filters
Once you are more familiar with your email program, you can leverage built-in tools such as rules and filters to automatically sort, label, and file incoming messages. This can help organize your messages.
This article by Jason DeMers at EmailAnalytics provides a robust guide to setting up Filters in Gmail.
Rules in Outlook work in a similar manner. This Microsoft Support article outlines the steps for managing email by using rules. Keep in mind that some rules created in Outlook are specific to your computer (“Client-Only”) and do not work everywhere.
4. Use Automation
IBM defines automation as “the use of technology to perform tasks … where human input is minimized.” If you need even more customization and flexibility, you can use personal automation tools like Power Automate and Zapier.
To get you started, the Power Automate site lists scores of templates that you can modify for your particular needs. You can select Email to filter templates related to email or you can use the Search templates… search box to narrow down your choices.
Zapier also provides support articles to help you automate your email-based workflows. Here are a couple:
5. Use Appropriate Email Etiquette
Once you have a good grasp of the technology, don’t forget to make sure that you are using the appropriate tone and style.
Even if you are already a pro at business communication, these articles and free training classes can help you brush up your email composition and etiquette skills:
Articles:
Courses:
We can help!
These are just some sources of low-cost and free online training. Follow our blog and Flipboard magazines for more sources of free training. Visit our Eventbrite page for our upcoming courses and free webinars.
We create customized learning plans for individual learners to help wade through all the different sources of training. If you need onsite or customized training, we also can help. Complete our contact us form to set up your free 30-minute consultation.
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