Email Management: Small Tip

[Update: I just read Michael  Arrington's post about Email Bankruptcy and the opportunity. Read it here if you missed it. Forget him, drop by MY place as I'll fund you. :-)]

Years ago -sigh, it really is years ago- when I worked for Microsoft, I was constantly getting "thanks for the quick response" notes when I replied to email.  Shockingly, people really appreciated a fast (or reasonable) email response when you worked for a big company. They still do today.  Most of my regular email correspondents have helped me stay responsive by using the low/normal/high priority flag when they send something to me.  That or they put "LOW:" in the subject line. 

It helps me categorize and prioritize my daily work.  With these helpful flags by the senders combined with so decent inbox rules, I have been able to remain steady over the years about being snappy with email responses. 

I think a relatively quick response to someone's email  is a great sign of respect.

Comments

[Mukund Mohan]

Rick
Spot on. I would agree with the number of positive responses I get from people on the fact that I respond to 95% of my email within 2 hours. Granted I dont get 1000's of messages daily, which probably might change my approach. I also agree that its a sign of respect.

[Tris Hussey]

You know about Xobni, of course (I have to reinstall it) ... combine this with ClearContext ... and man Rick your email will fly.

[Marsha Egan]

Great sign of respect, yes. One thing to consider is this new phenomin of "the copycat syndrome." Apparently, people respond to emails with the same "rate" as tehy are responded to. In other words, if you respond slowly, people will generally respond more slowly to you. If you respond quickly, people will generally respond more quickly to you. The caution lies in wanting to respond so quickly that you're allowing email to interrupt you constantly - and THAT gets in the way of your quality, ability to focus, and your productivity.

therehave been studies out there that say that the majority of emailers expect a return email in about 24 hours... Hmmm food for thought on the desire to give animmediate response. Perhaps an hour or two will work just fine!