You walk into your office in the morning, open your Inbox, and there they are: several new email messages.  But how many of them are really “new”?  And how many of them begin with the letters “FW”?

 The latest figures from the U.S. Department of Labor state that U.S. productivity is down, despite increased work hours and all the labor-saving, efficiency-enhancing resources at our disposal.  The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines productivity as “the amount of output per hour of work”.  So how much do emails contribute to productivity – particularly when it comes to forwarding emails?

 The sad fact is, hitting the “forward” or “reply to all” button to merely pass along an email to one person, who then passes it along to three people, who then pass it along to six more, with no one actually reading it, contributes nothing to increased productivity.  So why does it happen anyway? 

•  No one wants to take the time to read the message.
•  No one wants to take responsibility for doing something about the message.
• It is passed along in the hope that someone else will take the time to read the message.

 It is futile to hope this will happen. Games of “hot potato” usually result in someone’s hands being burnt.

 So how can this situation be turned around?  How can emails contribute to getting something done?

1.  When you send an email, state its purpose up front.  It can be in the subject line or in the first paragraph. And yes, you can edit the original subject line when forwarding someone else’s message.
2.  Think before you send the email.  What is it that I want this person to know, or to do?  What action needs to take place?
3.  State your message in clear terms – “I need you to read…” “I need you to do…”  “Please get back to me with… “.  If the message is time sensitive, or has a deadline for action, include that, too. Without a clear understanding of your message, people will treat it like the other emails they receive – they will ignore it.
4.  If you are forwarding someone else’s message, state the reason why you are doing this up front.  Don’t leave your recipients wondering why they got this from you.

 Finally, there is the ultimate fallback solution:  Pick up the phone and call the recipient.  I’ve often found that I can get more done in a one-minute phone call with someone than I can spending ten minutes composing an email to that person that may or may not be read by the intended recipient.

 Passing along something that no one else is reading doesn’t get things done.  The old saying about thinking twice applies here, too.

Dana Riel

Dana Riel is President and Founder of Business Solutions, Inc., serving the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area since 1985. Her firm is the authorized training center for the region for Time Matters and PCLaw by PCLaw|Time Matters, PLLC; Timeslips and Sage 50 Accounting by Sage Software; and QuickBooks by Intuit Corporation. She also serves as a consultant for Caret Legal (formerly known as Zola Suite), CosmoLex, Soluno & TimeSolv.  As a trainer, Dana has provided training services to organizations such as the DOD Defense Logistics Agency, Judge Advocate General’s Office (JAG)/Department of the Navy, University of the District of Columbia School of Law, U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as with small‐ to mid‐size law firms in the Baltimore‐Washington D.C. area. In 2009, she participated in the series of day‐long seminars sponsored by the District of Columbia Bar Association Practice Management Section, titled “Basic Training: Learn About Running a Law Office”. Ms. Riel also served as an Adjunct Professor in Georgetown University’s Paralegal Studies Program, having taught the course, “Legal Ethics/Legal Technology” in 2009; and “Legal Technology” for the Spring and Summer Semesters of 2010. She presently serves on the Advisory Board for PCLaw|Time Matters, PLLC.