Email management

[GoinSouth]

New boss has over 10,000 emails in her inbox. All read but just sitting there. Any tips for organising these? I have my own method but I'd be interested in other hints/suggestions.

Many thanks.

Shift them into a folder and start again with a system. Then start to work your way through the crap and delete most of it

I did this recently

Why do you need to organise them? I never file/organise emails. They stay in my inbox. I read and action as emails come in or flag for follow up. I use the search function when I need to find an email.

No, for work i like a clear dealt with in box. Have folders for each project/month/whatever and file everything, only keep stuff in the in box that needs action. Then prioritise and get those actions sorted, copy her into the response and then file both together.

We used to have a shared in box, 5 of us and a clean in box for close of play. It makes for a good nights kip when you know it's all done.

Assuming this is your job, then talk to the boss about it. You don't go and organise someone else without their agreement.

I used to have folders for different people and different projects but it got so complicated so now I just have my inbox which is stuff I need to read/do, a 'Completed' folder and the deleted folder.

If it's crap I delete it, if it's done and I want to keep it it goes into completed.

First thing is to ask them! I would just archive them tbh and use search function, but other people would want to file.

In my last job, I started creating folders and filing things accordingly but after 9 years there were so many folders and the upkeep was unmanageable. At my new job I started a fresh and essentially use my deleted folder as an archive so once it's done it goes in there. I just search either the deleted folder or the sent folder to find anything I need to re-review (which is hardly anything really).
My view is that folders are a fools game and you just need your inbox for things that still need doing, deleted and sent folder for old stuff. Simple and easy!

Do (if it takes less than 2 mins), delegate or delete.

I'm an organiser & ruthless deleter. Lots of (sub)folders.
Agreed you need to ask your boss what they want, would like.
My boss files/deletes nothing just searches when he thinks he needs something.
Our employer recommends no filing or deleting.
I watch my boss search & struggle to find messages.
He only notices at most, the top 5 messages so basically he reads almost no emails he receives.
We have to phone him to get his attention.
People who don't know him ask why he never answers emails.
Great system recommended by employer (not), ho hum.

I have auto move folders for emails received from key parties.

I long since gave up moving to folders and now consider that pointless busywork.

Delete them

Delete all the ones before she started working in the role.

I always file my emails (at the end of the day/ week - depending on how much time I have).

I create subfolders within my inbox, so for example team members; HR; Finance; correspondence, etc.

When I receive an email, I read it, action it if necessary, decide to keep it, or delete it. If you want to file if, then assign a category. Create rules so that an email with a particular category is moved into a particular subfolder. If you assign a category when you read the email, you can then run the rules and the emails will be automatically moved in one go, rather than moving one by one.

Some emails are saved in a shared drive, so other people in my team can access them too. If they are saved, I then delete them. We need to keep emails for audit purposes, so they need to filed or saved.

If you are managing someone else's inbox, then you should have a conversation first. You need to make time, every day or week to file the emails, otherwise you'll have 20,000 emails in the inbox in no time at all. Good luck!

I initially sort by title. If it's about who didn't do the washing up in the staff room then the whole trail gets deleted. (Usually gets rid of most of my inbox)
Then I revert back to sort by date. Then its folders for everything. Eg Personnel, Monthly Reports, New Processes, Clients emails.
Anything left in the inbox is just things I need to work on later.

This question is rhetorical.. boss and I have already discussed, leaving it with me to sort so simply curious as to how others manage inboxes.

I immediately delete when not important (general office stuff or where I've been cc'd in unnecessarily), I delete when actioned or replied to, move to folders for important or useful information that I need to refer back to. Try to keep emails in inbox to no longer than a screen/page worth. 10,000 emails how can anyone keep track of this. Emails are in sent items or deleted for archive if required.

I would be inclined to delete or archive and start afresh. You can always search for anything important.

I have subfolders in categories and use the D’s approach.
Do it
Delete it
Delegate it
Defer it (but add to diary or set up a task for a specific date) eg if I’m waiting on a reply from someone else or I need to check something with my manager.

This is making me feel better. I started a new job determined to be organised with folders but it became too complicated. At the moment it is all in my inbox and sent items and can usually find things. I am going to try a simplified file set up having read this.

One thing that I used to do to manage all this apart from have the folders is to actually dedicate time to it.

So a half day once a week until it is all done, put it in your diary and manage the heck out of those emails. If a project or work area is finished, gather all the emails in one folder, archive that folder and then you can delete the folder. Then do it at the end of each week once it is under control.

I used to have to archive everything and then bang it all on the project teams area for when I left. As I knew I was leaving before I started the role [due to redundancy from my main role], I planned archiving into every month's workflow.

I'm a PA, and my current CEO, and previous CEO, both had the same preferred method.

We have the inbox. We use tags for the emails -

Blue - Him to action
Purple - Me to action
Orange - No action, information only
Green

We then have one subfolder - Complete/No Further Action.

We each mark our action as complete, and once it is complete, it's moved to NFA. Orange emails which are NFA are left in his inbox for a week to allow him time to read, and once they're marked as read by him, I move to NFA folder.

Both of my most recent CEOs have disliked multiple subfolders, because often our emails could cover two subjects and it's down to person interpretation as to which folder it goes into. Also, if we hit slow wifi wherever we are, it can take a while for our laptop to perform a search in multiple subfolders if we're looking for something specific.

We work public sector, so everything is subject to FOIs, so we never delete emails. We just operate on the basis that, once one of us has marked as complete, it moves to NFA.

If he has emails marked for his action that are not marked as complete by Thursday, I send him an action list for Fridays to work through any outstanding emails.

Sorry:

Green - complete

This sounds like an efficient system but I don’t really understand this statement:

”We work public sector, so everything is subject to FOIs, so we never delete emails.”

FOI doesn’t require you to retain all information until the end of time. It requires you to provide information in response to a request IF you hold it. So deleting emails/holding less information is an obvious way to reduce the burden of FOIA.

Delete anything I don't need as it arrives (marketing emails, office stuff eg keys found by the kettle). Flag anything needing action, everything else is read and kept in the inbox unflagged for future reference (we aren't regulated but do often have to produce emails as evidence of actions taken/decisions made, sometimes years later).

No folders, tried that and it was such a waste of time, so many things could have gone into more than one folder. Just search on anything I need to find in the inbox. Works perfectly.

@GiltEdges

”We work public sector, so everything is subject to FOIs, so we never delete emails.”

FOI doesn’t require you to retain all information until the end of time. It requires you to provide information in response to a request IF you hold it. So deleting emails/holding less information is an obvious way to reduce the burden of FOIA.

Sorry, I can't work out how to quote a quoted post.

I agree entirely - this is my argument. That was always the case in my previous organisation. We're a much smaller public body, only 100 staff, and have an in house solicitor/data protection officer and they disagree with me. Think we should hold everything. We actually got an FOI recently which involved the previous CEO's communication with another body, and I couldn't provide the information as they left over a year ago and their mailbox was deleted, and the DPO almost had a meltdown! But my argument was that we can't provide information we do not hold.

Although I disagree with the DPO, I actually never do delete emails anyway because it's always the most obscure emails I don't think I'll need that I end up having to search for, for one reason or another, so I'm just in the habit of archiving now, I guess.

Well, as another DPO… your DPO is wrong 😁But at least you’ve found a way to work within the system!