Strategies For Managing Email Overwhelm In The Corporate World

Is it time to get rid of emails? The thought is intriguing, but also nerve-wracking.

Would making email obsolete make me obsolete? What will I do if that blinking light no longer demanded my attention?

As a senior leader at a large bank, my emails come from many origins. I am responsible for the success of 13 bankers and the satisfaction of over 650 corporate clients. To implement strategy, I work with an army of internal and external stakeholders. I need to stay current on my industry and market. My responsibilities include hunting for superstars to recruit, which means managing informational interview and mentoring requests.

This translates into hundreds of emails a day. If I am not careful, I can spend 10 hours a day reading and responding to emails. How can I get any actual work done if I am reacting to email all day?

The rising tide of emails in the corporate world has become a tsunami.

Every day, I dread not getting through all my emails that day. Buried between the pile of useless junk, ten replies on something trivial that only needed a phone call, and two-word ‘thank you’ emails, I am terrified of missing the one email that I really needed to read.

How do I handle this email overload?

Over time, I have unsubscribed from all newsletters besides those from a few reliable morning news websites.

I have set the expectation with my team that for anything urgent, they should text me.

When an email exchange is in danger of becoming a chain, I pick up the phone instead of responding yet again.

When the purpose of the email is to coordinate a time to meet, I let my Assistant handle it. I always ensure that a calendar booking is sent so there is no doubt about the time and location of the meeting. This is a great way to avoid yet another senseless email string.

Despite these efforts, my email volume tends to be on the outskirts of what I can effectively handle. I am always on the prowl for email management best practices to streamline my day. Here are some I have recently tried:

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