The pain of email
Debbie Mayo-Smith explains how to make emails work for you and save you time .
If you ’ re like most executive assistants , you have to manage hundreds of emails a day between your own and your executive ’ s inboxes . Even worse you ’ re so busy you don ’ t have time to explore more efficient ways of managing it all including contacts and calendar .
Here are my top two all-time favourite tips that will help you conquer email overload and free up 20 minutes a day .
Tip One
Problem : large volume of email each with different priority or action required .
Solution : automate your inbox . Have this function automatically read your incoming or outgoing email and perform the tasks you set – such as filing in folders , forwarding , answering , deleting emails .
Where : Outlook : Home Ribbon > Rules . Gmail : Settings > Filters . Lotus Notes : Tools > Rules . A wizard will help you set it up .
How to use : automatically sort incoming / outgoing emails ; answer web enquires quickly ; perform routine tasks , sort through irrelevant emails .
Here are a few ways I see this little email function having a dramatic impact for you .
Have repetitive emails go straight to folders : items such as newsletters , rsvp ’ s , mail delivery errors , out of office , voting , meeting acceptances , personal email .
Mitigate high CC and BCC volume : often these are not germane , or the most important item in an inbox . Having them corralled into a cc folder helps prioritise one ’ s attention to more important items .
Delay sending out email : how many times have you forgot to ‘ attach ’ before hitting the send button ? You can create a rule that delays the actual physical sending of the emails of a period of time like 2 or 3 minutes .
Managing multiple inboxes : working for several managers ? You can create folders for each manager and have items such as travel , work to do , cc ’ s sorted into these folders automatically .
Autoforward : if you ’ re simply a conduit for emails that another person handles , set up a rule automatically forwarding the email to them .
Best rule ever : if you receive a lot of promotional emails , create a rule that looks for the word unsubscribe in the body of the email and moves it into a folder . Look at these in a quiet time and en-masse . Brilliant .
Tip Two
Never retype a repetitive paragraph or response again : how much time do you waste over time writing the same thing over and over again ? Reasons for declining meeting requests ; travel requests ; standardish paragraphs ; your location with a Google map snapshot ; an answer to the same question for the 100 th time ; asking someone to handle something .
The solution : your email programs can create templates where a simple click is all you need to insert the saved text / images .
Where : Outlook : 2007-2016 Quick Parts . On the Email insert menu ( also in Word on the Insert menu ) Gmail : Activate labs ( Settings > Labs ) and select Canned Responses . Lotus Notes : Use Stationery .
How to create : type it out once . Highlight what you ’ ve written . For Outlook / Word click the insert menu and select save to quick parts gallery . In Gmail highlight the text , click the little drop down arrow at the bottom right of the email . Click to insert .
How to use : put your mouse in the body of a new or reply email . Outlook – on the Insert Ribbon click Quick Parts and select the one you want . Similarly for Gmail at the bottom right of the email click the little down arrow and select . For Lotus Notes , use stationery .
PCO ASSOCIATION NEWS
Twelve months ago the PCO Association established a Hotel Advisory Committee . One of the committee ’ s objectives was to improve dialogue between PCOs , hotel sales teams and hotel revenue managers and to work towards ways of improving the level of communication and standard of professionalism between all parties .
Over the course of Advisory meetings many discussions took place on the issues hotels and PCOs face when contracting business . With the collaboration of both parties a RFP ( Request for Proposal ) document was designed and is now available exclusively to PCO Association members by logging onto the members section of the PCO Association website www . pco . asn . au / members-section .
Mary Sparksman , one of the PCO Association councillors , has been trialling the RFP document over the past month .
“ Not only has the document simplified her requests for proposals , the positive feedback from the hotels has been extremely encouraging ,” she says .
Barry Neame , president of the PCO Association , says based on Mary ’ s feedback “ all PCOA Councillors will be encouraging their staff and our members to trial the RFP document ”.
For information on the PCO Association memberships contact Cindy Axisa on cindy @ pco . asn . au or mobile 0435 374 476 .
The 10 th Annual PCOA Conference and Exhibition is being held at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre , November 26-28 , 2017 . Expressions of interest to participate in the conference are available on the PCO Association website by logging on to www . pcoassociation . eventsair . com / pcoassociation-conference-exhibition-2017 / eoi / Site / Register
www . cimmagazine . com Convention & Incentive Marketing , Issue 2 , 2017 43