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Welcome!
Taming the Email Monster:
The Lawyer’s Guide to Getting and Staying in Control of EmailInPractice CT, May 2, 2013
Bill JawitzDoug Brown
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Resources
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Email volume increases
• Business email volume increasing by 13% a year
• Personal email declining by 7% (More people using FB, LI)
Time Spent on Email
2405012,000224,000
Forty 10-hour days per year400
hrs
Taking Control
4 Key Strategies1. Reduce Volume2. Increase Quality3. Manage & Organize4. Teach Others
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REDUCE EMAIL VOLUME1. Send less to get less2. Use filters and unsubscribe3. Use separate business and
personal email addresses4. Educate top offenders5. Dispense with internal “nicety”
emails
1st Key Strategy
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• Why are you sending THAT message?
• Does the recipient need it? (minimize cc’s)
• Is email the best medium?• Assess last 50 sent emails
Send Less Email
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IMPROVE EMAIL QUALITY1. Better subject lines2. Better body content
2nd Key Strategy
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• Be descriptive and specific• Change subject line instead of re-
using an old email • Use suffixes and prefixes
Quality Subject Lines
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Subject Specificity
• “My follow-up from today’s call re: Jones v. Barnes strategy”
• “A quick question about your Smith deposition prep memo”
• “Need to settle on a date for our presentation”
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• Categories:– Action Needed– Information– Request– Confirmed– Delivery
ACTION NEEDED: Schedule Jones deposition for next weekDELIVERED: Baker summary judgment motion for your review
Subject Line Prefix
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EOM (End of message)
NRN (No reply needed)
NTN (No thanks needed)
Subject Line Suffix
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1 subject per message Main points at top 1 thought per paragraph Line breaks Use bullets
Better Body Content
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Clean email body
1. Greeting
2. Action Needed
3. Context
4. Attachments
5. Conclusion
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Example
GOODSubject: INFO - Reminder of 10am Meeting on 12.5 on the new doc management software.
Hi Jim,
We are meeting on Monday, December 5, at 10:00am in conference room A. We'll be discussing firm-wide requirements for use of the new HOTDOCS system. Please bring a first draft of the guidelines you want to include for your department.
If you have any questions, call me at extension 3024.Mark
BADSubject: Meeting
Hi Jim,I just wanted to remind you about the meeting we have scheduled next week. Do let me know if you have any questions!Best wishes,Mark
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MANAGE & ORGANIZE• Use three email accounts (work,
personal, commerce)• Turn off all email alerts
3rd Key Strategy
Cost of Interruptions
151116582541,250
$128,625
687 hrs/2 = 343
$375/hr
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MANAGE & ORGANIZE• Use three email accounts (work,
personal, commerce)• Turn off all email alerts
Managing & Organizing
• Check email only 3 or 4 times a day
• Set an inbox threshold that triggers cleanup
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Managing & Organizing
MANAGE & ORGANIZE• Use templates• Master the preview pane• Get comfortable archiving• Use and train your Spam filters• Schedule time for weekly cleanup
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Daily/Weekly Process
Toss Refer Act File
Delete Do Delegate Defer
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Managing & Organizing
MANAGE & ORGANIZE• Unsubscribe and block senders• Master your View settings• Use YouTube to find instructions• Use a good IT person to optimize
and sync your devices• Learn and use rules
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3rd Key Strategy
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3rd Key Strategy
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3rd Key Strategy
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TEACH OTHERS• Identify top offenders (volume and
quality)• Model improved email
effectiveness• Provide resources• Be specific• Propose incremental change
4th Key Strategy
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“If you’re OK with it, Alan, I propose we
dispense with opening and closings
when emailing. It can take some getting
used to, but I find it does save time.
Let me know (I surely don’t want to
offend . . . )”
The Talk
More Info & Consults
• Email or call with specific questions• Contact info on our biz cards• Email Consult • JumpStart Consult
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Resources
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