Digital Life: How to curb office e-mails
Paste BN columnist Steven Petrow offers advice about digital etiquette.
Q: It drives me crazy that people in my office send so many e-mails, and it seems like we just go round and round, hitting "reply all." Now we have a new manager who seems fed up with both the number and length of the e-mails and has started using acronyms like these: LDL, IRL and F2F. I don't want to appear behind the times, but I need help.
— David G., New York
A: I'm wondering if this manager of yours has read the new McKinsey study that found that the typical employee spends 25% of the day reading and responding to e-mails. Really, who has time to do their actual job? More and more savvy managers are doing precisely what yours is; reducing the volume of e-mail by curbing the number of co-workers copied and — shocking as it may be — talking face to face (that's F2F, by the way).
Another two calls to action are LDL ("Enough back and forth, LDL," translates to "let's discuss live") and IRL ("This e-mail thread is too confusing, let's chat IRL," or "in real life"). Both mean it's time to get you out of your chair and talk to a colleague — which is also good for your health.
For those who need a quick brush-up on e-mail acronyms in the workplace, here you go:
SIM: When used, it appears in the subject line like this: "SIM: Meeting is @ 3pm." This means "the subject is the message," with no need to open the e-mail. Sometimes, EOM, or "end of message," will be used in a subject line like this: "Be sure to invite all designers to the meeting. EOM" Again, no need to open the e-mail.
FYA: A cousin of "FYI" ("for your information") this is an acronym for "for your action" and also signifies that the e-mail is timely. Open it upon receipt and respond quickly.
NNTR: Don't know this one? That's too bad, because it means "no need to respond." If that's the case, don't forget to let your recipients know.
NSFW: "Not safe for work." The contents are racy or otherwise inappropriate for the office, so don't open while you're at work. And, please, folks, don't send these e-mails to your friends' work e-mail addresses.
While I'm discussing e-mail overload in the workplace, take note of these suggestions to curb this runaway train:
• If an issue is going to take more than one reply, discuss it in person, F2F or OTP ("on the phone").
• While I'm all in favor of civility, nobody needs any more e-mails that just say, "Thanks," or "Have a nice day." But, yes, do include these niceties in other e-mails.
• Hold a morning meeting to discuss important matters of the day, especially those that will require some discussion, thereby eliminating many e-mail threads.
To paraphrase President Kennedy: "Ask not what your company can do for you to reduce e-mail overload, ask what you can do to achieve that." Good luck.
Agree or disagree with my advice? Let me know in the comment section.
Submit your question to Steven at stevenpetrow@earthlink.net. You can also follow Steven on Twitter: @StevenPetrow. Or like him on Facebook at facebook.com/stevenpetrow.