That meeting could have been an email
why corporate America is killing it's productivity
This is kind of a rant, but not really, so pay close attention.
Meetings, meetings, meetings.
They seem to fill our calendars and clog our minds.
Who hasn't had a day where they were back to back to back for 6 hours straight.
You barely had time for a body break or to grab an apple.
Being back to back every day for days and days happened less frequently before the pandemic.
Because most leaders and sales personnel were "out" in the world doing "salesy" things like meeting prospects, customers or centers of influence.
But since the advent of the "Zoom Culture", it's not unusual for a leader to have many of these back to back days.
I know many will say (including myself) it's far more efficient because you and your team can be in multiple physical locations all within the same day.. You can speak to people from Rochester, Richmond, Montgomery, Lubbock, Calgary and Truckee all on the same day.
It's exhausting, isn't it?
And for those who are on this hamster wheel, you eventually realize that you're not getting your work done.
Maybe there is a way that we can achieve what we want in these "meetings" and boost our productivity?
I think it might be called "email".
And don't get me wrong, I love the nuance of talking to real live people. I, I think that much of what needs to be accomplished in these meetings can be completed with a clear email.
So let's dive into the types of ways that email can boost our productivity and still maintain our closeness with our "people".
First of all we need to relearn how to use email.
Every email you send should have a purpose.
It's shocking to me how many people send me an email that's just a follow on a thread from a previous email. Like it’s a continued conversation you had with someone at a dinner party.
Firstly, let me say, I’m a big fan of a movement/document that spread around in the 00s called the Email Charter. The site went down several years ago, but it was recently revived by someone else so I will share it here for your enjoyment.
https://www.emailcharter.info/
The Email Charter gives you and your friends the freedom to act with civility when you’re using email. The greatest gift you can give them is to hit them with an NNTR at the end of your email. (don’t know what is this.. look at the link abovve.
So without beating you us on your poor email manners, lets let’s dive into the world of email and discuss how it can supercharge your productivity.
Have a purpose and goal in mind
As with everything related to communication, understand why you are sending this message to its recipient(s) and your desired outcome from it’s being sent
Recognize that email is an asynchronous communication tool
Do not expect to receive a “ping” back shortly after you’ve sent your message. In fact, if you’ve sent a correct email then you likely won’t receive a response for a while as your recipient(s) will want to review its contents and be thoughtful in their response.
If you want an immediate response then use a different communication channel like Slack or, dare I say, the telephone.
Be fulsome and concise
This seems contradictory but provide all of the information you’re thinking about as it relates to your purpose and goal in as few words as possible
One way to be both is to make the first or second paragraph of your email an Executive Summary.
That way your reader can quickly review the Exec Summary on the fly and then get to the meat of the message later.
But if you use this method you’ll need to tell your reader that there is more further in the email.
Don’t be afraid to add links to references, other sites or shared fields in your email
If you need to, add your chart or graph to the body of the email and provide a link to the full spreadsheet.
Make formatting your friend.
Remember that most people first read email on their phone, so ensure there is lots of spacing between paragraphs or individual ideas.
You can also use bullet points or numbered lists to concisely make your points
I like to use Bold in my section headings or to emphasize a specific point because I know that I’m drawn to Bold words
Have a CTA or Next Steps
A good email should have a concise wrap up of your points and a description of what to do next with this message (hint: not another meeting)
When I need to have the other side take an action or make a decision by a certain time, I like to put a dead man’s switch which states that if they don’t respond by a certain date and time then they understand what my next course of action or decision will be.
Concluding thoughts:
When you write emails that are purposeful, well formatted and provide real data with sources AND describe the next action to be taken, you’ll be able to eliminate an endless stream of meetings that make your head spin.
Instead of booking another meeting to have a conversation with anyone, ask your counterparty to put their thoughts into an email and send it to you and you’ll do the same. And you’ll read it when you’ve made the time to be thoughtful and deliberate.
You’ll be able to go back to doing the work that you love and/or are paid well for.
And you can thank me later.