Newsletter – Why Do You Get So Many Emails? What You Should Do Today!

Most of us spend an unholy part of our day sorting, trashing and analyzing the constant deluge of data that we receive from our computers, phones and other devices. A coaching client once told me that she had received 80 emails in the hour we had been speaking!

“If you really need to read every email that 

your people send out, 

clearly you need different people!”

While information is power, too much information creates nothing but confusion. If you are a leader, you need to find a way to sift through what is relevant and what is not.
While there are many techniques out there, one that I suggest you consider today is making sure that your staff is not copying you on every email. I have coached leaders who insist on this practice and I can’t imagine anything more crazy-making. If you really need to read every email that your people send out, clearly you need different people!

What Should You Do?
As a leader, your job needs to be to carve out some time every day to rise above the fray, think creatively and strategically. If you are receiving 80 emails an hour, you are not going to have the time and energy for that. One of my former clients, a tech leader, famously had his IT people take the “reply all” function off everyone’s computers because he was so angry about the daily deluge of emails. If you need to micro-manage your own staff so thoroughly that you are reviewing every email, something needs to change. You either need a new staff or they need a new leader!

In all of our management and leadership classes we consider the question of prioritizing your time as a leader, including email overload.

For more information, call or write us at: 303-216-1020 or Lynne@workplacesthatwork.com

 

Be sure to read Lynne’s book “We Need to Talk — Tough Conversations With Your Employee”

and learn how to tackle any topic with sensitivity and smarts.