5 To Thrive: In-House Email Hacks 2.0

I know, I know.

I have already blogged once about email hacks for in-house counsel — and the idea that there might be more tips just about managing email may be ridiculous. At the same time, whenever I get together with other in-house colleagues, the number of emails we receive daily is still a common complaint and obvious bane of our collective existence.

So in hopes of being helpful, here are five more tips for more efficient use of email.

1. Consider whether the information should be an email at all.

This may seem like too obvious a tip, but think about how many times you have personally received an email or a long email thread or chain and thought to yourself, “Why is this even an email?” So out of creating good email “karma,” consider whether the information you want to send should be an email before sending it.

For example, if you are looking for rich brainstorming on a complex legal issue or collaborating on a single document, email is not the most efficient method. A meeting is probably better for brainstorming and benchmarking, and collaborating using software where users can suggest changes in real time on a document is probably better for version control and will cut down on duplicative or cumulative suggestions.

Also, consider if there are other applications that are better suited to your needs.  Recently, our company moved to Microsoft Teams, and I am loving the chat function for “FYIs” and quick questions. If my quick question turns into something more complicated, I can set up a phone call on the fly, if the person is available, or schedule a meeting for a later time — with zero added emails to my inbox.

Lastly, when you’re the person sending an email, from your perspective, it’s probably clear, but once you receive a couple of questions asking for clarification, it’s a sign that: (1) your email wasn’t as clear as you thought, which may be a sign to take more time next time in drafting it and/or (2) it’s better left for a meeting. My personal rule of thumb is if my email creates two or three “back and forths,” I need to abort mission and try something else.

2. Don’t bury the lede.

This tip is a little different than starting with the ask. One of my readers shared this tip — when it comes to legal advice, start with the exception or what is wrong first, in case your recipient just skims and doesn’t read your entire email.

If your email reads like this: “Overall, this looks good. I like how X, Y, and Z are presented. Makes a lot of sense. Puts us in a competitive position. Kudos to the team. But I might suggest we push back on A because …” there is a risk that your reader doesn’t get to the exception.

And while that is not necessarily your fault because you presume people read the entire email, the fact is a lot of people don’t, and let’s face it — are you going to be the one to tell the C-Suite executive that she misread your email?

Save yourself the trouble and get in the habit of pointing out what needs to be fixed or addressed first. Consider how busy your audience is and how they might just want to get through their hundreds of email as quickly as possible and draft accordingly.

3. Consider timing for best chance of response.

This is a new one I’ve learned. Fridays (especially after noon) are just not great days to send something you need a response to, even if you just want to get it off your to-do list. It won’t likely get read — and then when Monday rolls around, your Friday email gets pushed to the bottom and possibly lost. I try to target Monday to Wednesday mornings for my most important messages.

4. Consider using OOO even when you’re not actually OOO.

I know this sounds a bit like cheating, but I love customizing my out of office messages to help me set expectations with clients. For example, if I’m in an all-day meeting, I like to share that “I’m in the office, but in an all-day meeting, where I can’t be as responsive as I’d like to be. I plan to respond to emails received by X date. If you need a response sooner, please let me know. If this is an emergency that cannot wait until tomorrow, please text me.” I do something similar if I’m working on a project that needs my concentration — my “deep work” days. You could even share something like, “My calendar is tight this week, but if you need to meet, I can be flexible and make myself available during these dates/times on a first come, first-served basis.” Beyond setting expectations, it’s the intentional precommunication that saves you time.

5. Avoid forwarding strings.

This one is probably self-explanatory. How many times have you received a long string of forwards with a one-liner like, “Your thoughts?” or “Legal advice?” or better yet, only “????” And you have no idea what the actual ask is. It came from someone who was obviously trying to get through their emails as quickly as possible (such as a busy executive) and unintentionally wasted your time because even after reading every single email in the string, you still have no idea. Unintentional or not, don’t be that person. Take the time to create an email with a proper ask and include only the relevant information. You may find that it will limit the “back and forths.” Plus, if you use an email management system where you need to save the emails for searching later, the “FW FW FW or RE RE RE” are not great ways to try to “find” the email later on so take the time to change the subject too.

Hopefully there are helpful! Any other email hacks I may have missed?

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Meyling “Mey” Ly Ortiz is in-house at Toyota Motor North America. Her passions include mentoring, championing belonging, and a personal blog: TheMeybe.com. At home, you can find her doing her best to be a “fun” mom to a toddler and preschooler and chasing her best self on her Peloton. You can follow her on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/meybe/). And you knew this was coming: her opinions are hers alone.