Taking Control of Your Tools Instructor: George Knox

Some Statistics Over 300 billion electronic messages are sent each day The typical corporate user send/receives 105 s daily, requiring 20 MB of storage per user per day An average worker spends 25% of the work day on , 14% in meetings and 9% on the phone Source: The Radicati Group, 2011

Introducing the 4 D’s Use a strategic approach to managing ANY task: Delete – If it doesn’t need to be done, eliminate it Delay – If it doesn’t need to be done now, defer it for later Delegate – If it doesn’t need to be done by you, either assign it to another or ask for help Diminish – If it must be done now, and by you, use tools and shortcuts to make it easier to do - Adapted from Never Check in the Morning, Julie Morgenstern

Managing Your Managing Time (Reading) Managing Messages (Organizing) Managing Content (Writing)

Managing Time Goal: Reduce the amount of time spent on by controlling how and when you read

Managing Time Turn off auto-send/receive, alerts, instant messaging Schedule periodic checks Preview to screen, delete, and sort (Reading Pane?) Process in batches by priority “Clean house” when necessary

Tools: Send/Receive Turn off Scheduled Send/Receive 1. On the Send/Receive menu, click Send/Receive Settings 2. Click Disable Scheduled Send/Receive

Tools: Desktop Alert Turn Off Alerts 1. On the Tools menu, click Options 2. On the Preferences tab, click Options, and then click Advanced Options 3. Under “When new items arrive in my Inbox,” clear the check boxes

Tools: Preview/Reading Pane Turn on AutoPreview 1. On the View menu, click AutoPreview 2. To preview unread messages only, on the View menu, point to Current View, and then click Customize Current View 3. Click Other Settings, and then click Preview unread items Turn on Reading Pane 1. On the View menu, choose the Reading Pane option and click “Right” or “Bottom” Note: AutoPreview will show 3 lines of text only. Reading Pane will show “complete” message w/ attachments

Managing Time “Clean house” 1. Schedule a good time to “clean” your inbox 2. Create a “Temporary” folder and a “Reply Later” Folder 3. Dump all messages older than 1 day/1 week 4. Open each remaining message and quickly respond: reply immediately, delete, file for reference, forward/delegate, or move to “Reply Later” 5. Return to “Temporary” and “Reply Later” regularly as needed

Managing Messages Goal: Organize messages into “groups” that make it easier for you to find, read, reply, forward, delete or store

Managing Messages Filter, Filter, Filter Use filters to block messages that don’t need attention Create filters “as you go” Create “Rules” to automatically handle specific kinds of messages Use to sort, auto-reply, flag, prioritize and categorize

Tools: Filters Creating a Filter 1. Select the folder you want to apply a Filter to 2. From the View menu, select Current View » Customize Current View Click Filter for the Filter dialog box 4a. Use the Messages tab to filter by keywords, sender or recipient 4b. Use the More Choices tab to filter by category or message characteristics 4c. Use the Advanced tab to filter with your own defined criteria

Tools: Filters Removing Filters 1. Access the Filter dialog box 2a. To remove all Filters, click Clear All 2b. To remove individual Filters, delete the Filter criteria that you no longer wish to apply Junk 1. To add a Sender to Junk E- mail defaults, right click the message » select Junk E- mail » Add Sender to Blocked Senders List 2. Click OK 3. Other changes to Junk E- mail filter can be made from the Actions menu, with Junk » Junk Options...

Tools: Rules Creating a Rule from Message 1. Right click the message you want to base the rule on » select Create Rule Select the conditions that you would like to trigger the action 3a. Select the action you would like (Do the following) 3b. Use Advanced Options as needed (Opens Rules Wizard*) 4. To save the rule, click OK * Also accessed from Tools »Rules and Alerts » Rules » New Rule Deleting a Rule 1. From the Tools menu, select Rules and Alerts Select the Rules tab 3. Select the rule that you want to delete 4. Click Delete and confirm

Managing Messages Use “Sort,” “Find” and “Folders” to deal with messages individually Group and organize contacts w/ distinct names (Watch out for “auto-complete”) Mark/prioritize messages sent only to you (vs. group FYI messages) “Flag” a reminder to reply w/ “Follow up”

Tools: Sort & Find Sorting Messages 1a. Use Mailbox Column Headings for quick sort 1b. Use Menu Sort if headings are not seen 2. Select the folder you want to sort 3. From View menu, select Arrange by » desired heading 4. Use Custom if you want less common sort elements Searching Messages 1. Use the Search text box for simple searches 2. Use the pull down arrows to expand or target your search by adding terms Tip: You can search by partial terms or phrases

Folders vs. Categories Folders Identifies a group of messages that share something in common A folder can hold many documents, but a document can only be in one folder Folders can only be searched one at a time Signifies “Location” Categories Tags documents with descriptors that can be used to find similar documents A document can fall into many categories Categories can be searched across the system Signifies “Description”

Tools: Folders Creating Folders 1. From the File menu, select New » Folder In the Name text box, type a name for the folder 3. Select where your new folder will be located Tip #1: Use the Inbox as the parent folder Tip #2: Build a hierarchy of related sub-folders Move Messages to Folders Drag and drop Message tab» Actions OR right click » Move to Folder » select folder OR New » select parent folder and name Choose multiple messages with shift or control keys Tip #3: Keep folder names short but meaningful

Tools: Categories Customize Categories 1. Right-click any category icon in your Inbox 2. Select All Categories for a list of the existing categories 4. Mark checkbox for the category you wish to Rename or Delete 5. To create a new category, click the New button. Input the name for the category, select the color from the dropdown and (if desired) select a shortcut key from the dropdown. Click OK Assigning Categories 1. Right-click an message 2. Select Categorize 3. Select a category from the list

Tools: Flags Flagging a Message Option 1 – Highlight the you wish to flag and left-click on the Flag icon in the toolbar. From the menu that appears, set the flag by date or set up a custom flag Option 2 – Highlight the you wish to flag and right-click on the Flag icon to the right of the . From the menu that appears, set the flag by date or set up a custom flag Tip : Use the Custom Option to customize the flag value and add a reminder. For standard flags, just use Add Reminder Option 3 – Open the you wish to flag. In the Options section of the Message tab, click on the Follow-Up button and select the flag date from the menu that appears

Managing Content Goal: Spend less time writing while improving reader understanding & reception

Managing Content Write less or not at all Use short message to summarize and request action w/ details in attachment Consider calling or meeting Use “Delivery Options” to schedule sending and/or expiring a message and to mark priority Set up automatic replies with templates

Tools: Message Delivery Controlling Message Delivery 1. Create the message 2. From the Options tab, in the More Options group, click DELAY DELIVERY 3. In the Message settings section, choose level of importance/sensitivity 4. In the Delivery options section, select Do not deliver before from the pull-down lists 5. Select Expires after from the pull-down lists 6. Click CLOSE and SEND

Tools: Templates Creating a Template 1. From the Navigation pane, click MAIL » NEW MAIL MESSAGE 2. Add the content for the template 3. From the Office Button menu, select Save As » Outlook Template (*.oft) 4. Select a save location OR Outlook will save to default templates directory 5. Enter File name and Save 6. Complete message and SEND OR Close message window for future use Using a Template 1. From the Tools menu, select Forms » Choose Form From the Look In pull-down list, select User Templates in File System (or Browse if not saved in default) 3. Select the appropriate template 4. Click OPEN 5. Complete the message and SEND Tip : Create a base template and then Edit and Save As for additional templates.

Tools: Auto Reply Create an Auto Reply Rule 1. From the Tools menu, select Rules and Alerts » New Rule… 3. In the Rules Wizard, click “Check messages when they arrive” under Start from a blank rule. Click Next 5. Select desired Condition(s) in Step 1 6. Click hyperlink(s) in Step 2 and enter specifics for condition(s) 7. Check changes to specifics shown in Step 2 & click Next 8. For action, select “reply using a specific template” 9. Click the hyperlink “a specific template” in Step In the Select a Reply Template, change the Look In: value to “User Templates in File System” 11. Select & Open desired template 12. Click Next 13. Add any exceptions you wish and click Next 14. Give rule a name & click Finish

Managing Content Practice good business writing Single topic for each Precise, direct language for clarity Short, well-organized paragraphs for ease of reading Clear request for action when appropriate Proofread for clarity and effectiveness

On-line Materials Additional Resources for Effective