Email Etiquette and the Use of Exclamation Points – NYT Article

Hello!!! Just thought I’d share a great New York Times article on the use of exclamation points in email. Definitely overused, yet too many people still overuse them. I love the comment about choosing to use only one exclamation point in an email message – kind of a “Sophie’s Choice” mentality.

design mascot surprised

Here’s the link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/fashion/exclamation-points-and-e-mails-cultural-studies.html?ref=fashion

What about you? Are you a user or an abuser?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

Email Management Vacation Tips+: Watch My Channel 13 ABC Las Vegas Interview!

Check out this 6 minute segment for email management and ‘vacation from email’ tips I shared with Shawn and Dao on the “Morning Blend” TV show in Las Vegas… Boy, they were fun – my earring malfunction and all.

Click here for the video.

What are your tips for managing your email while on vacation? We’d love to see your ideas!

Craig Peterson of Tech Talk interviews Marsha Egan on Inbox Productivity

Craig Peterson, host of Tech Talk, is among the US’ top 200 Computer and Internet Consultants with over 30 years of design, implementation and security experience. His talk radio show beats all other shows in the Boston radio market every Saturday from 1pm to 3pm Eastern time. And he invited me to be his guest! 

Here is the link to the podcast. It runs about 15 minutes, and we talk about the root cause of the email overwhelm to solutions that will work for you.

Ranked the #1 radio show in the Boston Market, and with more than 4,000,000 downloads, Tech Talk With Craig Peterson is rated as the top tech show nationwide. Craig interviews top industry insiders and explains the technology secrets everyone needs to know.

Regain Time While Becoming More Productive – Podcast with Tom Gray

Join Social Media Mentor Tom Gray and me as we discuss how to detoxify your inbox, and manage your email productivity.

Here’s his post. 

And here is the link to the podcast, which includes at least 20 tips for managing your email and your inbox.

InsideBiz.com – Hampton Roads article E-Mail a Business Strategy?

Wow. Insidebiz.com just posted my article – If your employees were all taking 2 hour lunches, would you address it? http://cli.gs/pq4dhq

Klaus Givskov-Christensen on "Inbox Detox"

Here is a review of my book, wanted to share – Inbox Detox:

If you’re anything like me, you can’t function without email. We rely on it daily for communication across the office, across the city, and across the world, and it has probably had a greater impact on global communication than even the telephone. And yet, there are countless untold C-level executives with thousands of unread emails in their inboxes, an embarrassing amount of people who call you just to “make sure you received that email” they sent five minutes ago, and more SPAM than you can imagine.

 
In Inbox Detox, Marsha Egan offers both the diagnosis and the cure for toxic email behaviors. She asks readers to cast a critical eye on their own email (and, by proxy, productivity) habits, provides a model, 12-Step Program Style, for dealing with those habits, and then details newer, more productive ones. Egan breaks down the email issue into its most basic problem: email misuse is a constant drain on productivity, and therefore a constant drain on the bank account. 
 

Inbox Detox is basically a step-by-step guide for both companies and individuals who have recognized that their own email habits have become problematic. Egan takes the readers through a program to help them clean out their inboxes and learn to manage their workload, making it clear that this is about more than just moving a few emails around.

When I first picked up Inbox Detox, I was unsure if I would find anything in it for me. After all, email has become such an integral part of business, and everyone handles it differently, so what could this book possibly teach me? I quickly found that I was absolutely wrong. Egan doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to getting the reader to call his own behavior into question; with the in-book evaluation and diagnosis tool, readers will know the extent of their own email problems within the first 30 pages of the book. She holds readers accountable for their own email habits – likely the only way to persuade them to actually change. 

Egan also answers possible critics right out of the gate. She makes it clear from page one that this isn’t just about changing practices, but habits – a much harder cycle to break. She asks readers to fundamentally alter the way they go about their business in order to become more productive. And Egan has gone out of her way to make the book relatable. Her style is companionable and easy-to-read, and the book and the tips within are easily digestible – pulled quotes, graphics, and the all too recognizable “Toxic Emailer Alerts” make for quick and engaging reading.
Though this isn’t the most formal of business books, Egan keeps the information accessible to a wide audience. The message is clear: email is a widespread problem that affects both businesses and individuals in a very real way. The changes Egan calls for in Inbox Detox certainly don’t seem like rocket science, and you may pass on the book without giving it a chance, thinking you’ve got your email under control. But after reading this book, let me assure you – you don’t.  

Klaus Givskov-Christensen

For more on this book, please visit http://EganEmailSolutions.com/inboxdetox.html

Attention Deficit? Conference Board Review article…

James Krohe, Jr wrote a great article about technology and its influence on productivity published in The Conference Board Review. He even quoted me in the article!

Here’s the link.
http://www.conference-board.org/publications/atb/1108_Krohe.pdf
What do you think?

Marsha

Email Etiquette tip: Remember: the recipient cannot hear your tone

When crafting an e-mail message, always keep in mind that the receiver cannot hear your tone of voice or notice your body language. Be aware of the potential for misinterpretation, and create your message with the recipient in mind. By re-reading, you may be able to avoid misinterpretations.

Just remember, e-mail can not be equated to conversation. E-mail presents information in one dump, without any feedback. You can not see the body language that allows you to “read” the recipient, adjust your tone or respond differently. That is why it is unfortunately misread and misinterpreted regularly.