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Welcome!. Taming the Email Monster: The Lawyer’s Guide to Getting and Staying in Control of Email. InPractice CT, May 2, 2013 Bill Jawitz Doug Brown. Resources. Complete the Resources Request Form to receive two docs and today’s PPT. Email volume increases.
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Welcome! Taming the Email Monster: The Lawyer’s Guide to Getting and Staying in Control of Email InPractice CT, May 2, 2013 Bill Jawitz Doug Brown
Resources Complete the Resources Request Form to receive two docs and today’s PPT
Email volume increases • Business email volume increasing by 13% a year • Personal email declining by 7% (More people using FB, LI)
Time Spent on Email Forty 10-hour days per year 240 50 24,000 400 hrs 12,000 2
Taking Control 4 Key Strategies • Reduce Volume • Increase Quality • Manage & Organize • Teach Others
1st Key Strategy REDUCE EMAIL VOLUME • Send less to get less • Use filters and unsubscribe • Use separate business and personal email addresses • Educate top offenders • Dispense with internal “nicety” emails
Send Less Email • Why are you sending THAT message? • Does the recipient need it? (minimize cc’s) • Is email the best medium? • Assess last 50 sent emails
2nd Key Strategy IMPROVE EMAIL QUALITY • Better subject lines • Better body content
Quality Subject Lines • Be descriptive and specific • Change subject line instead of re-using an old email • Use suffixes and prefixes
Subject Specificity • “My follow-up from today’s call re: Jones v. Barnes strategy” • “A quick question about your Smith deposition prep memo” • “Need to settle on a date for our presentation”
Subject Line Prefix • Categories: • Action Needed • Information • Request • Confirmed • Delivery ACTION NEEDED: Schedule Jones deposition for next week DELIVERED: Baker summary judgment motion for your review
Subject Line Suffix EOM (End of message) NRN (No reply needed) NTN (No thanks needed)
Better Body Content • 1 subject per message • Main points at top • 1 thought per paragraph • Line breaks • Use bullets
Clean email body • 1. Greeting • 2. Action Needed • 3. Context • 4. Attachments • 5. Conclusion
Example BAD Subject: Meeting Hi Jim, I just wanted to remind you about the meeting we have scheduled next week. Do let me know if you have any questions! Best wishes, Mark GOOD Subject: INFO - Reminder of 10am Meeting on 12.5 on the new doc management software. Hi Jim, We are meeting on Monday, December 5, at 10:00am in conference room A. We'll be discussing firm-wide requirements for use of the new HOTDOCS system. Please bring a first draft of the guidelines you want to include for your department. If you have any questions, call me at extension 3024. Mark
3rd Key Strategy MANAGE & ORGANIZE • Use three email accounts (work, personal, commerce) • Turn off all email alerts
Cost of Interruptions 15 165 11 825 41,250 $128,625 $375/hr /2 = 343 687 hrs
Managing & Organizing MANAGE & ORGANIZE • Use three email accounts (work, personal, commerce) • Turn off all email alerts • Check email only 3 or 4 times a day • Set an inbox threshold that triggers cleanup
Managing & Organizing MANAGE & ORGANIZE • Use templates • Master the preview pane • Get comfortable archiving • Use and train your Spam filters • Schedule time for weekly cleanup
Managing & Organizing MANAGE & ORGANIZE • Unsubscribe and block senders • Master your View settings • Use YouTube to find instructions • Use a good IT person to optimize and sync your devices • Learn and use rules
4th Key Strategy TEACH OTHERS • Identify top offenders (volume and quality) • Model improved email effectiveness • Provide resources • Be specific • Propose incremental change
The Talk “If you’re OK with it, Alan, I propose we dispense with opening and closings when emailing. It can take some getting used to, but I find it does save time. Let me know (I surely don’t want to offend . . . )”
More Info & Consults • Email or call with specific questions • Contact info on our biz cards • Email Consult • JumpStart Consult Complete and leave form to get today’s resources and PPT slides
Resources Complete the Resources Request Form to receive two docs and today’s PPT