Managing the inbox is a “core competency” for leaders in any profession. I learned this term from Dr. Mark Kobelja, who worked with me a few years back until he moved to be COO of another facility. His desk was always clear. His inbox was generally empty. I admired his efficiency and candor about inboxes in general. Unfortunately, with the explosion of the number of different executive inboxes, this “core competency” has become a challenging imperative. In the healthcare business, there is a physical inbox on the desktop, an email inbox (sometimes more than one) inboxes for the electronic processing of staff vacation and time off, an electronic system for staff evaluations, and one for checking and verifying staff credentials. All have to be managed. But probably the most challenging is the email inbox.
Management can be thought of as directing “process and product.” Electronic mail must be managed. The steps we take to manage email processes proactively will help make us more efficient and effective. As we will see, these steps may not make us better leaders. Business pundits have offered a range of strategies for email management, so I am sure that these suggestions will generate discussion and additional ideas:
You don’t have to open every email. Set up the view panel – you can scan the contents to see if you need to spend time with it. Often you don’t have to. In fact, some email doesn’t have to be read at all. Get into the habit of tossing things that are sent “shotgun” or as general announcement if you already know the subject.
TRAF: Toss, Refer, Act, File. This system of work management originates with executive guru Stephanie Winston. (The Organized Executive, Warner Press 2001). Winston makes the point that no piece of paper should be touched twice. Unfortunately, Blackberry makes “touching” email twice (or more) almost a necessity. We don’t file messages we receive on Blackberry although we do open and read them. The next time we log into our desktop account, the message is there for us again. It is inefficient but almost unavoidable. We have to be brutal with these messages the next time we open the inbox. Winston says we should toss (delete) refer (forward to someone else for information or action) act (reply or take personal action to solve) or file (keep for later reference) quickly with each piece of paper, and in this case with every email. Only reluctantly leave them in the inbox.
Use the alphabet. When you have been away on business or vacation, or find that your email inbox gets full, try using the alphabetical sort by sender or subject so that you can either file or delete whole groups of messages.
Study, scan, skim or can. Don’t keep looking at the same message unless you use the inbox as an action list. Keep it pretty nearly empty or you won’t ever get to the bottom to see what you wanted to do. I have been using “scan and can” as my general approach to email for many years. Occasionally you miss something (don’t apply this technique to messages from your Boss.) But mostly you don’t. If it was important and you missed it, someone will ask you again.
As difficult as it is, it is still often easier to manage than it is to lead from the inbox. The inbox can be almost a source of perverse pride. We can see email volume as a reflection of how critical we are to the organization. So in an odd way, non-management of the inbox can become a bragging right. The inbox challenges our ability to lead. It is sobering to consider that for many organizations, email may be the only way subordinates ever encounter leaders. They reach out to us electronically and then wait to hear back from us. We have to lead.
Where management involves “process and product,” leadership is a matter of “purpose and people.” We have to keep thinking of ways to communicate the mission and vision so that our people respond, while we also convince that we have their best interest in mind. Our own bosses grade us on the first of these, but not always on the second. And yet our effectiveness as leaders depends on our ability to care for our people. Our priority as leaders should be to cultivate behaviors that value people, specifically regarding the inbox.
Get up and turn away. People wander into the office at the end of the day, the only time we have to clear the inbox. They often have issues that require attention. My friend Buzz Malone called me on this behavior once. I had the habit of half-listening to people without turning from my Outlook. He provided me some much needed “feedback.” Get up from your desk, come around to your subordinate or teammate, sit down, make eye contact and listen. If you really need the time to attack the inbox, close your door.
Keep emotion out. If you are feeling anything reading an email – anger, frustration, even exceeding joy – and you feel the urge to respond, don’t hit send. Save the draft and look at it again when the feelings have waned. You may find that you modify the words or the tone, and will save yourself embarrassment or worse.
Keep the inbox out of the bedroom and the boardroom. It is very difficult to stay focused on two worlds at the same time. When we are home we need to be home. When we are in a meeting we need to be a part of it. Working the inbox at the same time is a distraction at best. At worst is can be offensive to family and friends who rightly believe that they deserve our attention. Work to find a compromise. Break away by yourself a couple of times a day on a weekend, or every couple hours in an evening to check the Blackberry if you feel you need to. Similarly discipline yourself to stay off the device during meetings. No one will think the better of you because you check it constantly. The opposite may not be the case.
Watch out for weekends. Evening and weekends may be the only time we have to clear the email inbox. When I worked at one hospital, I had to live apart from my family for six months until the school year ended. I stayed at the hospital every evening because I had nothing else to do. I’d finish up the last emails at around nine and head off to my room. By the time I got there, my Blackberry was blinking with subordinates’ answers. It dawned on me that my actions were causing bad behavior. Some issues have to be addressed immediately. But for most of what we are doing, the reply can wait until the next workday. Use the “delay delivery” function (“Outlook / New Message / Options”) on weekends or evenings so that the message arrives early the next work day. Our people need to rest and reset. They won’t get the chance if they have to be watching to respond to us at any time.
Turn off the email buzzer and the bell. Email is almost never an emergency. What drives our urgency is a desire to empty the inbox. Turn off the Blackberry buzzer and the ring on your desk computer. Even the momentary distraction of knowing that a message has arrived may disrupt. As my friend Dr. Mark Thompson has said, “You don’t really have to be good to be a leader…you just have to be present and positive.” It is too easy to be absent. Inbox urgency can make it worse.
Respond when personally addressed. We have all experienced this, and have been guilty of it. We send an email to a superior and hear nothing back. And so begins the semi-tortured wondering of whether we have said something disagreeable. The common explanation is that the Boss saw it (often on Blackberry) thought about it for a second and then forgot about it as it tumbled back into the inbox. From our own “Boss” positions it is too easy to forget that our subordinate may have agonized over the message they sent; looking for the right tone and words. At a minimum they deserve some acknowledgement: “Got it. Thanks.” Or “Thanks. I’ll get back to you.” Then follow through.
Pundits love to argue about the difference between management and leadership and in particular whether an executive needs one or the other to be successful. Common answers usually include “it depends.” In the case of the inbox, a core executive competency, the answer is straightforward. You have to do both.
Henry V 4.3 
I frequently find myself allowing the Inbox dictating my agenda for the day, instead of being very intentional with my approach to its use. I agree that staff should not be getting messages from me at night. I may be cleaning up the remnants of the day, but that does should not create a sense of urgency on the part of someone else at night. Thanks for these reminders!