ARTICLE

"Managing Email - key to Improving Productivity"
By Benjamin Preiss

Samperi Consulting Group founder and principal consultant, Karina Samperi said some corporate workers can spend up to two hours managing and responding to their emails on a daily basis.

With office workers swamped by large volumes of emails, media reports have recently shown that some businesses are implementing email-free days in an effort to ease stress levels on employees.

In today's office environment, email is an essential tool but employees are evidently finding it a difficult one to manage effectively.

Samperi Consulting Group founder and principal consultant, Karina Samperi, believes poorly thought out systems for managing emails is a prime source of inefficiency for corporate employees.

Samperi Consulting Group, founded in 1998, specialises in improving productivity and performance for businesses. Implementing user friendly email procedures is often an important component of the consultation process for SCG.

The company typically conducts half day training consultations with corporate workers, in which their email practices are closely examined. Simply responding or taking action when an email is received is one of the first pieces of advice Samperi gives her clients.

"A lot of people get emails and read them, but don't do anything with them," she said. "They don't even forward them on."

Setting aside time to read emails
Allocating specific times to reading emails is another key idea in Samperi's process. Rather than reading each email as it comes in, she suggests setting aside certain times to read emails and then respond appropriately.

For larger corporations, unnecessary copying of colleagues into emails is another source of "waste", Samperi said. She believes colleagues unlikely to sit in a meeting to discuss matters included in emails, need not have it sent to them.

Lack of training is perhaps one of the greatest reasons for inefficiency according to Samperi. In her experience, many companies neglect staff training in the unrealistic expectation that employees will be able to manage the technology themselves. Greater guidelines supplied by management regarding email storage and security, can give staff greater confidence in dealing with daily tasks.

"What I'm finding is that we still have to work with paper flow management, but email has just created another scenario that we need to learn and be trained in how to use it," she said.

Samperi said she has seen workers spend up to two hours each day, managing and responding to their emails. An inability to type properly can be another time consuming hindrance.

Workplace practices have been transformed by effectively managing emails, Samperi observed. By creating more efficient practices, employees can leave the office at the end of the day feeling in control of their inboxes and workloads.

"People have said it changed their lives when they realised how they could really manage their emails and respond appropriately in the time required and get the job done on time. Then they are back in control of their emails, rather than emails controlling them."

About the Author
Benjamin Preiss is a journalist with Connected Media, the daily online media for the consumer electronics industry. The Connected News Service is distributed nationally as well globally and is considered to the leading source of intelligence in this important industry. Further information on Connected Media is available at www.connectedaustralia.com or 02 9837 4090.

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