Emails: curse or strategic game changer?

Used well, email enables better communication, fewer meetings and more time to do other things. Unfortunately, we are predisposed to respond to them as they arrive, regardless of importance, so it is easy to be distracted from important tasks. Counter the addictive potential of emails using the creative tension of focused improvement covered in my last column. Carry out a simple test. Draw a four-box matrix with high to low urgency on the vertical axis and high to low added value on the horizontal axis. Look at your daily email inbox and tick the matrix for each email: box 1, high added value and high urgency (action within 24 hours – though note frontline roles have a shorter planning horizon than managers); box 2, high added value and low urgency (action required, but needs consideration); box 3, low value added and urgent (someone else needs to act within 24 hours). Allocate other emails to box 4 (low value added and not urgent). Emails in boxes 1 and 3 are a symptom of reactive management because routine tasks should be systemised. Look at the box 1 emails: why these have become so urgent? Then ask why again until you find the management process that is causing the problem. Then deal with it. Short daily meetings to update everyone on current issues, visual management and weekly newsletters can be useful – as long as these systems are easy to use and everyone understands their roles. If you can't deal with box 2 emails immediately, add them to your to-do list and allocate time as part of your routine prioritisation process. Box 2 items become box 1 items if they are not dealt with, so consider if there is a weakness in personal organisation. Email content in boxes 3 and 4 may be better assigned to another communication form such as intranet, or social media portals or blogs (or deleted). These are useful for workers returning after a shift break, or for teams collaborating on projects across time zones. The profile of your email inbox is a window into your organisation's communication and knowledge management capability – and with advances in the ease of use of IT, that capability will soon become a strategic game changer.