ThinkTank

While in college, I used to beg for family and friends to send me letters. My parents would say, “To get a letter, you should send a letter”. It’s apparently the same for email.

“The more [email] you send, the more you get”, according to Jeremy Burton, vice president of Veritas’ Software marketing unit, who recently decreed that casual Fridays would also be email free. If any of the 240 staff members need to communicate with another, they have to do it by telephone or in person. So then, will the opposite work? 

If we reduce what we send, will our inboxes not be bulging at the seams?  It appears to be so.  After a few months, Mr. Burton’s marketing team has gotten used to the notion – and other businesses are following suit.

For those of you who read my previous installment, here are some common sense recommendations to help tame email. 

• Don’t open email from someone you don’t know, especially those that arrive with attachments.  And be careful about opening attachments from folks you DO know.
• When you find it truly necessary to forward emails to others, make sure you use BCC: (blind carbon copy) and not CC:, and delete the header copy from the original sender which gets forwarded as well.  If you use CC: the email addresses become visible and can be copied by unscrupulous folks who sell email addresses to list companies.  That is one of the top methods that spammers get email addresses.
• Keep your contact list current.  If you use distribution lists, make certain they too, are up to date, and that those on the list are being sent what is appropriate – whether it’s marketing information or jokes.  Otherwise, it’s junk email!
• Forwarding and copying others is a practice to be used sparingly.  And when you do, make sure you include any editing and let them know what you expect them to do with the information.
• Be concise and accurate.  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
• Many of you are already using anti-virus and anti-spyware software, so now try utilizing anti-spam software.  There are some inexpensive and even free applications at www.download.com, many of which work with Microsoft Outlook and some with Outlook Express.  Find the Search box at the top of their homepage and type in anti-spam.  It should give you more than 70 to choose from.  If you are logging into your Internet service provider and checking your email at their site, most of the bigger services, like AOL, BellSouth or Earthlink, already offer SPAM blockers as an option you can configure while in you visit.

Hopefully, you’ll take some time to implement these processes and make them a part of your world of email.  It’s bound to be better for your business, your career, and your personal sanity.  Who knows, maybe the next big thing will be ‘toxic manager’ free Fridays!

Electronic mail, or email, has been touted as the greatest personal and business productivity enhancer, which is true. But to some, email has become a tremendous burden and a waste of time. Read on and I’ll show you what you can do about it.
Part 1 of a 2-part series on how you can begin to tame the email monster.

If you are at, or near the top of your organization or business unit, everyone wants some of your time. They want you to know they’re doing the job you’re paying them for – and doing it well. So they send you email. Make you feel important, does it?

Well, you’re welcome to take some (or most) of mine, because some days, I receive up to 100 ‘important’ emails, not counting junk.  They could take hours just to read, and even more time to respond.  I’ll bet many of you are also up to your eyeballs in email, because for whatever reasons, others feel you need to be kept “in the loop”.      

Ya’ really want to know why?  Because email is virtually free! 

If e-mails, like ‘snail-mail’ (a ‘techie’ term for stuff sent through the postal service) cost 37 cents for each stamp, and required typing the letter, typing and licking an envelope, folks would be more mindful of sending them – believe me.  We’d really re-think how important it is for us to send emails to Bill, Bob, Jack, John, Debbie and Karen.  But because of computers, we can ‘cut and paste’, or just ‘CC, and with a few clicks on the computer, let our bosses, colleagues, buddies, parents, and the rest of the folks in our address books, in on our latest success, news (good or bad), or discovery, and so we e-mail away.  Why I know one executive who has email sent to his company’s mail server, his home computer and his mobile device.  Now he has to delete the same email (he probably didn’t need or read) three times!

If you’d like to do something about your email here are some ideas to help with the burden. 

It would be interesting for a business to set up a cost accounting system that would bill each individual, department or division, oh, let’s say, 50 cents for sending an email.  Now, that’s for each email address in the ‘SEND TO:’,  ‘CC:’, or ‘BCC:’, boxes.  That would get peoples’ attention!    I’m guessing that this would bring chaos to most organizations, especially if they thrive on email as a significant communication method.  I can’t think of very many that don’t.  

But I do remember a TV advertisement a few years back for a well-known software application where an older worker would not answer email messages unless he could first print them out to read them.  He’d say, “No – I want paper”, when his assistant would try and show him how to read email on his computer monitor.  What a guy!!  And I’ll bet that, to the happiness of laser and inkjet cartridge manufacturers everywhere, once he printed them out, he probably tossed most of them, if not all, in the ‘circular’ file (that’s the trash can for those of you more youthful than I). 

Why not track how many minutes each day you spend reading and replying to emails?  Be really critical and accurate – it’s important.  If you now divide your annual compensation, the total of both your salary and the cost of your benefits – usually 15-25% of your wages – by 120,000, this is what your employer pays you per minute (example: $60,000 per year/120,000 = $.50 per minute).  Now, multiply the number of daily minutes you spend with email, times your per minute pay rate, and ask yourself if that is a number you’d be proud to list as a line item in your next budget.

But even if you don’t actually do any of this, just thinking about it, and influencing others to think about it will have a profound effect on what may be an email crisis in your company or your personal life.

In my next installment, I’ll show you even more tips on saving time with email.

From the Archives of Coach Brian

New York, New York, what a wonderful town!

After landing at LaGuardia Airport and hailing a taxi, we’re heading into Manhattan in stop and go traffic. Stop means our cabbie, who has graciously cracked the windows for some ‘fresh air’ is cutting over lane after lane to find the quickest way to cross the East River . . . and go means that he is speeding south along the Eastside Highway towards the United Nations building at 85 m.p.h.

What follows? An NBC Studio tour, visit with the Today Show, Strawberry Fields and more.

Pronto’s Pizza, The Empire State Building, NBC Studios and Other Historical Sites, Are the Best Found In NYC by Conyers Locals

The local Rockdale County school board has adopted a ‘balanced’ calendar, which shortens the summer break, but it extends the Thanksgiving break, and adds two 1-week breaks in October and February. 

Brian, Lynn, and daughters Erin and Nicole spent 24 hours in the ‘Big Apple’ before they were met by oldest sister Stacey for a trip to Rhinebeck to celebrate Bud’s 80^th birthday. 

City accommodations were secured by Brian’s sister-in-law, famed travel agent to the stars, Joan Howe of Star Travel.  She made sure they were cared for at the renowned ‘Intercontinental Barclay’ located in the heart of fabulous Manhattan, and within minutes of some of the best things New York City has to offer.

Brian said, “We really packed a lot into 24 hours.  We walked to Rockefeller Center, took the NBC Studio tour, breezed through part of the theatre district, then on to Central Park to visit Strawberry Fields and a glimpse of The Dakota, the former home of the late John Lennon.”

Later, they took the subway to Mulberry Street to enjoy Italian food, and rode it back to within walking distance of the Empire State Building for a breathtaking nighttime glimpse of the City from atop its observation deck. 

Even though it was cold and the wind was howling, they braved the elements to listen to their guide, “Tony” on the audio players they rented.  He pointed out landmarks and the sections of Manhattan within view.

Nicole, who has become a prolific photographer, took images from many vantage points.  She noted that, “It was very cold and windy, but the view was incomparable.”  She also observed that, “New Yorkers are much more friendly than I perceived them to be”, and as editor of her high school newspaper, wrote an article discussing her recent ‘Big Apple’ experiences.

Erin said, “It was an outstanding adventure to crowd into the elevators, and then check out at the lights of New York City from the top.”  

The following morning, Brian & Lynn took off to find hot coffee and bagels, and then made a side trip to the ‘Today Show’. 

After catching a quick glimpse of weatherman Al Roker outside, and Katie Couric inside, they made a stop and walk through at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral.

Returning to the hotel, and readying for the next leg of the trip by hooking up with daughter Stacey at La Guardia Airport, they headed to Rhinebeck, and Bud’s landmark birthday party.