To think everyone who uses email in their work should learn how to manage it effectively?

[FireworksAndSparklers]

I'm so tired of colleagues and managers never replying to emails until days (sometimes weeks) later, usually with the excuse that they have hundreds of unread emails backed up.

I just think there's no need for it. Find a strategy that works for you and do it. Don't just let your emails back up without dealing with them. It's rude and it's counter-productive for both your own efficiency and that of the people you work with.

I know my own strategy wouldn't work for everyone, but I would never just ignore an important part of my work because I haven't taken the time to figure out a system for managing it.

AIBU or is it ok to just let your emails build up and up and leave correspondents hanging for ever for responses?

I flag everything that actually requires me to do something about it as I scroll up from the earliest unread. Including the annoying person who rants about people not answering or reading their emails when they've actually read them, rolled their eyes at the tone and thought 'No, I am not biting, not this early in the morning'.

Usually, as I do this, further scrolling reveals a complete binfire where they've also copied in about 20 other people, had two in tears before 9am and either interfered in stuff that is completely outside of their remit or is actually their sole responsibility and they're trying to palm it off on somebody else.

So I'll get on with actually important and time critical things that are actually my job or I can assist with, then come back to the flagged ones once I'm ready or have nothing better to do with my time.

And if I get harangued in the meantime, I'll say no, I haven't read it yet, I've got 127 other emails as well, rather than 'Yes, and I'm deliberately not responding because you're being a dick to everybody from a position of general ignorance and incompetence again'. Because that would be ever so slightly unprofessional to let them know exactly what I thought of them.

It's the people who don't delete anything from their inbox (I don't mean filing) just leaving 1000's and 1000's open. Had a new boss a couple of years ago who was one of those creatures, surprisingly missed a lot.

I get 00's of emails and system actions a day.

I spend between 5 and 8 hours talking to key people, in meetings or working on specific projects.

I don't get to all my emails everyday. I look at the all flag those that I'm not dealing with now and come back to flagged ones when I get time.

I'm not sat at my desk waiting for someone to message me, so noone should expect a quick answer to anything that is not important or a priority.

@FireworksAndSparklers you need to chase people if you need an answer not complain they haven't got back to you for a week. Maybe you need an additional way to manage this?

Oh my goodness that’s mad! What happened when he came back? And this is why we have a productivity problem in this country.

It also sounds really familiar… I have worked with lots of people whose favourite line is “sorry I can’t take x on because I’m at full capacity right now” while I’m juggling 10 projects and they’ve got 2! There are always lazy, unproductive colleagues who seem to get away with it. Luckily most people I work with are hardworking and responsive.

I think if the manager's job involved receiving 100s of emails from staff, also doing their jobs, then they need to respond extremely promptly for the good of the business if nothing else. If one person is expected to deal with a very busy inbox along with other tasks then management need to consider employing an extra person/ giving someone else more hours to cover it.
It seem wildly unprofessional to have to wait weeks for your managers to respond to things if they relate to your ability to do your day to day job.

@Theonlylonely I’m his manager so I’ve given more projects and I’m overseeing his work closer. He’s actually doing brilliantly and I think he needed the challenge as he was stuck in a rut.

"It's OK" =/= "I am able not to do this"

Quoting https://autisticscienceperson.com/2023/03/06/neurotypical-accommodations-and-unwritten-rules/comment-page-1/

• Should I put an exclamation point in an email?
• Am I coming off too strong?
• Will it sound critical?
• Do I reply to an email when someone thanks me?
• Do I say “you’re welcome” or “no worries” or “thanks so much” back?
• Do I email versus message versus wait until a meeting to talk to someone?
• Do I laugh at a joke even though I didn’t think it was funny so I don’t offend them?
• Am I sounding like a team player?
• Are people mistaking my genuine enthusiasm with my words with sarcasm[...]?
• Should I never joke in case people misinterpret my tone and think I’m being serious?

And adding my own: does this email need a reply?

Multiply that by hundreds of emails a day and no, you won't get a prompt reply out of me.

I also think far too much "noise" emails are sent. I don't need to be CCed into every message of that twenty message chain. I don't care about the corporate newsletter. I don't need emails about my queue from the ticket system because I can see my queue already. Get rid of that and I have a fighting chance to deal with the rest.

in the profession I’m in some e-mails cannot be responded to quickly as I have to liaise with a number of other consultants on the project to get an response together therefore you are relying on others also getting back to you, quite difficult to find a system when you are doing that

In short, some e-mails can be responded to quickly and others can take weeks and I may need to write reports to be included in some responses which need research and time….. what kind of e-mail system do you suggest for that

You need a ticket system.

Totally agree

People do not even confirm receipt of important documents, never remind saying thanks for them

We're not all robots. Or as perfect as you.

I hate getting thank you or acknowledgement emails.

They must add about 40-50 emails a day.

I can't ignore them in case there's something else in the body email.

Thanks is understood and if it's not so what.

Also why do you need someone to acknowledge receipt. If you send it to the correct address, you know they got it and if they didn't for some bizarre reason, you have proof thst you sent it.

About 50% of the emails I receive are absolutely unnecessary and a waste of everyone's time.

We have a department that support us with a task. By asking people to stop sending thanks, they reduced their inbox by 30%.

I have a to do list that I deal with in order of priority.

On very busy days, email is not a priority, and doesn't get done. I generally don't allow emails to roll over from one week to the next.

But I have one colleague who writes essays about complete drivel but somewhere in the 500 words is the one question he actually wants answering. I never answer his emails and wait for him to come and complain at me in person. It's quicker.

There are times when, for legal reasons, the recipient must confirm receipt.

We should all do this: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/23/ex-us-navy-officer-how-to-write-emails-with-military-precision.html

Subject: INFO sale agreement received with thanks

Body: [any extra context needed]

I agree. It's always the same unless people who take ages to reply and they're usually the ones who only pretend to do work

This. In my old job I used to get so many emails it was often hard to keep on top of them. Some emails were so pointless I think it’s more that people need to change situations when they email and think about whether they can use teams instead.

Lots of us have jobs where there is not enough time for all the things that need to get done and we prioritise the important stuff.

If you are getting a couple of hundred emails a day, if you let that shape your day, it can really derail the genuine priorities.

Some people's job design relies on them filtering out noise and ignoring a lot of stuff that is non urgent/non important. If you need something urgently send a message/drop by and ask.

I bet you are like my boss.

He's insanely clever. Operates on another level. Also works very long hours. We work in an organisation that piles more work on people than is reasonable, and he will grumble that other people don't stay on top of it. The only reason he does is because he works outside of hours and at superhuman speed!

Instead of assuming you are right op, why not assume that people are in fact doing their best but that they are overloaded, and push for your organisation to actually hire enough people. But be reasonable about how much most normal peopld can get done. Not everyone will be able to read, process, type etc at the speed you do.

Don't just assume the because you sent an email that they are waiting at their desk to respond.
Communicate in others ways, phone or face to face if possible.
Email has become the lazy way to move on responsibility with the click of a send button, personal communication is always more effective.

You see, if I’m in a meeting, when I come out I will have at least 20 new emails.

So your comments tell me that we can’t remotely be dealing with a similar workload.

I was in back to back meetings all day yesterday have 100 new emails to wade through tomorrow morning before starting for the day. Maybe one or two of those will get a response from me.

My strategies include no longer filing emails and letting the search function do the work for you, and prioritising my immediate workload over answering new emails. I have enough ongoing crises to deal with, the new ones will have to get in line.

Your general gripes about email are so lacking in self awareness and perspective, that they are completely pointless.

I get a lot of emails and like to be on top of them. Sometimes I’m not when there’s a crisis or I’m working on something that takes more of my time, but it stresses me out when I have a lot of unread emails

Most large organisations are trying to phase out email as much as possible. It's not succinct enough usually. I prefer any other form of communication.

Stupid emails are the bane of my life. Someone's inability to utilise email correctly is not my problem. I ignore them. My inbox is currently sitting at 600 because that's how much people don't know how to use email.

I agree OP.

If emails are a part of your job then you should be able to manage them. You don't need a huge complex system for filing and organising emails (that's often a waste of time) - but you do need to read them and deal with them in a timely manner.

I had an administrator last year who really didn't have a huge workload. I got a quick view of her inbox once in a meeting and she had over 200 unread emails. She'd only been with the company a couple of months at that point.

I just can't believe someone can possibly doing their job properly if they are not even opening those emails and letting them pile up (and she was in the end very inefficient and slow at everything she was asked to do).

Emails have become such a large part of many jobs, it's important to know what to do with them and prioritise.