Communicator's Top 5 Tips for managing your inbox
Busy EAs, PAs, Secretaries and Administrators can often receive hundreds of emails each day. With email communication the second most common communication tool after the telephone, it's important to organise your inbox effectively.
1. Archive
Set up folders in your inbox and file emails away once you've actioned them. Archiving is an effective way to keep all your regular correspondence on file and organising your emails into set folders makes documents much easier to find when you need them.
2. Use Flags
Start flagging all emails that need to be actioned. You can set your flags to remind you to follow up the task the next day or later in the week/month, and all your flagged items will be automatically listed in your Task bar so that you can prioritise your workload effectively.
3. Organise your Calendar
Use the calendar on your inbox to schedule your work deadlines, in addition to adding in work meetings and appointments. Colour code your calendar to reflect the task at hand eg. Green for Internal Meetings, blue for External Meetings, red for Work Deadlines and so on. Share your calendar with colleagues and ask for theirs to be shared with you so that you're one step ahead with organising team meetings.
4. Out of Office Assistant
Ensure you have an effective Out of Office message that will direct people to the right person in your absence. Don't be afraid to put an out of office on when you're busy but don't forget that, just because it's switched on, it doesn't mean people will stop sending you emails!
5. Save Contact Lists
Save email addresses of regular contacts in your address book to make it quicker and easier when you next need to get in contact with them. Group contacts together if they belong to the same organisation and add contact telephone numbers and reminders to their contact form for you to use at your disposal.
Communicator and PA of the Year Awards, 2015
Communicator is a strategic email service partner, focussed on helping ambitious brands optimise their performance across multiple channels.
This year, Communicator is sponsoring our Legal PA of the Year Award and will be presenting a Michelin Recommended overnight break to the winner of this prestigious title.
Winning Legal PA of the Year can transform your career; raising your profile across the profession and making your name really stand out.
Make 2015 your year, by submitting a nomination for Legal PA of the Year today.
Winners will be announced at a prestigious Awards ceremony, held at The Ivy in November.
