Outlook Tips to Boost Your Productivity by Steve Singleton
Most full-time office workers have an employer-provided e-mail account, and
chances are, it's with Microsoft Outlook. Many of us send and receive dozens of
e-mails per day. Here are some tips about making the most of Outlook's
substantial capabilities when you are the sender. Not taking advantage of what
is available is like keeping your brand new Ferrari continually in first gear.
If you think you are already on the Outlook fast track, at least slow down long
enough to check out the points lower in the list (arranged roughly from most to
least important). Since nearly all of us are self-taught in our Outlook
expertise, we are all at different levels. Now, let's rev 'er up and see what
she'll do!
* Know when to call and when to e-mail.
The rule of thumb is, the less intrusive you are the better, which is
definitely e-mail. If you need to transmit and/or receive information in a
hurry, however, a phone call is better. But what if you know the recipient is
tied up in a conference call though still in their office? You might be able to
reach them by e-mail without interrupting their call. E-mail also works better
if your target is away from the office, especially if you know they have a
Blackberry. If a dialogue between you is necessary, a phone call is probably
more efficient.
* Carefully craft your subject line.
Unfortunately, too few people give their subject line the attention it
deserves. How many times do you get an e-mail with a blank subject line or one
that is unhelpful, like "message for you"? Since many of us scan our inbox
without the reading pane turned on, the subject line and name of the recipient
is how we determine whether to open the message.
Make your subject line convey the most vital information in about six to eight
words. If that number of words is the entire content of your message, consider
letting the subject line carry the entire message. If you choose this option,
end the subject line with "<EOM>", which stands for "End of Message."
* Carefully word your e-mail
Remember Rudyard Kipling's famous poem, which begins:
I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who
.
These six features should be prominent in your e-mail messages. If at all
possible, put them all in the opening paragraph, because, unfortunately, many
people read the first paragraph of an e-mail and then scan the rest of the
message. If the highly pertinent material is not in the opening paragraph, they
will probably miss it.
* Make a habit of reading over the e-mail before you send.
Just a few seconds of proofreading could save you the embarrassment of
misspelled words or tangled grammar. Sometimes the mistake materially changes
the message, as in leaving out the "not" in the sentence, "I will not be able
to work overtime on Thursday evening." Give yourself some reassurance, and save
yourself a lot of grief.
* Learn how to recall a message.
Have you ever discovered, three seconds after you hit "Send", that your outgoing
message has a serious error? You can recall your message, and, if you do it
immediately, you stand a good chance of retrieving your mangled message without
your recipient's knowledge of your mistake. Here's how to recall a message: Go
to the "Sent" folder and open the message from there. NOTE: You have to
actually open the message. You will not be able to access "Recall" from the
Inbox's reading pane. With the cursor in the "Message" field, select "Recall
this message" from the Actions menu.
* Set the levels of importance and sensitivity.
Outlook provides three options to identify the relative importance of your
message: high importance, signified by a red exclamation point; low importance,
indicated by a blue downward arrow; and normal, the default setting. Just use
the high-importance icon sparingly; no one listens when you cry "Wolf!" too
often.
The same holds true for the sensitivity levels (confidential, private,
personal, and normal). Both of these bundles of options are available in a
dialogue box that pops up when you select the "Options..." menu (it only
appears when you are Composing a message). If you select one of the levels
other than "Normal," a pre-set message will appear above the "To/From" rows
with the preset messages. Because it appears there, however, and not in the
message window itself, an inattentive recipient can easily overlook it. You
might desire, therefore, to repeat the sensitivity or importance message within
the message window.
* Flag your message for follow-up.
While composing your message, if you click on the menu icon that looks like a
pennant on a stick, a dialogue box will appear that permits you to select from
a variety of options to identify what kind of response you are expecting. Your
options include: Call, Do not forward, Follow up, For your information,
Forward, No response needed, Read, Reply, Reply to all, and Review. You also
have the option of setting the day and time (in 30-minute increments) for the
response deadline.
Once more, when the recipient gets your e-mail, all of this information will
appear as a column within the Inbox if that column is turned on and above the
"To/From" rows of the message itself. Keep in mind that your recipient might
easily overlook this information unless you repeat it in the message window. In
e-mail communications, a little redundancy is a good thing.
* Use read receipt requested when your message requires an immediate response.
That same "Options..." dialogue box permits you to check "Delivery receipt"
(almost never needed for internal e-mailing) and "Read receipt requested."
Requesting a read receipt accomplishes two purposes: it lets you know that the
recipient opened your message, and it conveys to them a sense of importance and
urgency. If these two purposes do not pertain to your message, uncheck read
receipt requested.
Remember that the recipient can by-pass your request either by reading your
message from the reading pane or by choosing not to return the receipt.
Requesting a read receipt, however, can be useful if you are unsure whether the
recipient is available. If no receipt from your urgent messages gets back to
you, you'd better try making a phone call.
* Turn off receipt requested and read receipt requested, especially when
e-mailing to large group.
Turning on receipt requests unnecessarily is a good way to flood your Inbox
with meaningless messages, especially if you e-mail goes out to a large group.
Do yourself and them a favor: uncheck it in the "Options..." dialogue box.
By learning how to use Outlook--or whatever e-mail application you have--more
effectively, you can boost your productivity with little or no cost. Happy
e-mails to you!
About the Author
Copyright 2006 Steve Singleton
Steve Singleton is a communications coodinator and corporate trainer for
a Fortune 500 company and a former editor, editor, reporter, college
instructor, and public relations consultant. His
TeleprompterPlans.com has plans for building a teleprompter and
Subscriptions for video marketing, podcasting, and vlogging.
|
