Email: A Communication Archive Engine

Email is slow according to today's high expectations of immediate response and feedback. However, it is considered the more formal mode of communication, especially for employers. Email etiquette is synonymous with writing a hand-written note and sending it via USPS. To understand and perform the sweet science of emailing, you can purchase any number of books or for free via articles/blogs on the subject, e.g., "The Art of Email Writing" by P. Vassallo. Nevertheless, email writing rules mimic those of letter writing: greeting, body introduction, body content, closing, signature. 

Email writing and responding, circa 2014, is a necessary evil. Admittedly, I have a love-hate relationship with email. I have two big pet peeves. The first irritation is receiving an email indicating that another email is en route in the near-future. I mean, why even bother sending the email in the first place? I just don't get it. I wish the sender would just wait and send me all the information in one email. Or better yet, call me or tell me in a face-to-face conversation. Woah, crazy talk. It sounds too much like right. Let me just move on. The second irritation is the inappropriate use of the "reply all" feature. The situation is all too common: an email with a list of recipients is sent and the recipients respond to all on the original email rather than just the proper individual, e.g. congratulatory notes, e-introductions, etc.

Quick "Reply All" usage tip: do not "reply all" UNLESS one of these conditions holds true: you are sharing common information to a group e.g., reporting up your chain of command (cya/cyoa), you are eliciting a group-email discussion, e.g., when/where to meet, or you are attempting to resolve some sort of small miscommunication. 

Email has unfortunately been used as a replacement for, rather than to augment, face-to-face conversations. Misinterpretation, miscommunication and downright rudeness are the bad effects. Hence, my love-hate relationship with this technological advance. In recent months, many strive to obtain the inbox zero status - an email management effort to have as few (optimally zero) messages in your email inbox. Effective organization of folders and email deletion rules can help achieve the zero inbox. The benefits purported as less clutter, less stress and focusing your attention on important things. I'm marching toward the zero inbox, but I ran into a hiccup on my Apple devices. The Apple folder structure doesn't exist (essentially you must create another mailbox), which is not viewable to the root mailbox. I rely on email deletion rules, Evernote and leveraging my laptop's folder structure. I've reduced my professional email box count from ~2000 to ~1000 messages.

The introduction of other digital communication mediums (messaging, texting, FB inbox, tweeting and all other social media) has rendered email archaic. But I've discovered a revived appreciation for email during this zero inbox experience. Email has one last stand, one significant advantage that those other digital communication mediums. Conversation archiving. I have found myself in situations over the past few months where being able to quickly access (and then forward) the original email or email exchange has circumvented additional emails and stress. I no longer desire the zero inbox instead I strive for periodically identifying and archiving relevant email conversations.

Quick email tip: some individuals are more comfortable using email, rather than face-to-face or phone conversations. When I encounter this situation, I sculpt my email to elicit a response from them, usually by ending my email with a question.   

Here's a few of my email inbox management tricks. To better understand my tricks, I receive email from the following groups as a college professor: my institution's administration, colleagues/peers, graduate students, undergraduate students and prospective graduate students. 

I classify email messages into three bins:

• Informational: These messages are meant to keep you in the loop. You must decide if being in the loop is what you want. If so, you can note the information. Regardless, simply delete the email. Disclaimer: Email responses are not warranted. Depending on the email culture, a corresponding acknowledgement message may be considered the proper rules of engagement.
• Discussion: These messages are meant to help minimize miscommunication and misinterpretation of the email recipients. The sharing of ideas and solutions tends to ensue as the different perspectives reveal themselves. In my discipline of computing, we call this sentiment analysis or opinion mining. It's very hard to accomplish through email exchanges. I prefer to handle these situations either face-to-face or over the phone. If a resolution has not been reached, then keep the most recent email, which should include the entire email chain. You avoid information loss and you can delete the other intermediary emails. Disclaimer: email responses are expected but not required.
• Decision: These messages are an attempt to reach a consensus of a group. Most recipients elect to use the Reply All feature in an effort to come to a consensus quicker. In the professional environment, a decision maker is met with either joy or dislike. Joy to those who are indecisive or prefer not to make a decision. Disliked by those who don't agree with the decision rendered. In most cases, it's email polite to state your decision clearly. As with the discussion emails, keep the most recent email, which should include the entire email chain, and delete the rest. Disclaimer: You may not actually care about the topic in which your decision is required. But the decisive trait and making good decisions reveals your potential for future promotions.

Now, go forward and conversation archive!