From the course: Time Management Tips

Set email expectations

From the course: Time Management Tips

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Set email expectations

- How do you let others know about when you'll respond to their emails? How do you manage their expectations? I don't recommend having an always on auto responder for every single email that let's people know when they can expect a reply. That's not reasonable, and would create more interruptions. Instead, begin with getting together with coworkers, and having a conversation. What's the communication culture that we're going to establish at this organization, this company? How often should we expect each other to respond to email? Create a written guideline about what people can expect in your company communication culture. This creates an understanding that it's impossible to reply to every single email immediately. But perhaps, we could reasonably respond within one business day, or four business hours, or something like that. You could have similar conversations with your best customers about what their expectations are as well. If customers expect a more immediate response, then you may want to have a system where someone is designated as the email-replier during certain hours of the day, similar to a receptionist. Now, what if you go on an extended trip? In this case, you would want to setup an auto responder that establishes an expectation. For example, right now I'm filming this course, and I have an auto responder that says, I'll be unavailable for a few days, and people should, in most cases, expect a response after I'm done. Clear expectations can reduce interruptions and increase productivity.

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