Email Back and Forth: The Best Way to End It For Good
Email back and forth may look something like this:
You send an email about an event. You get response with a question about the parking situation. To answer the question, you reply by referencing the original email that contained parking information. New reply. The sending did read the original information but was still wondering about another detail that was in fact not mentioned but in small print. You reply again restating the answer in different words. You receive an instant “thank you” back.
6 emails. 20 minutes. On both ends. For what?
Not only is email the wrong platform for chatting back and forth in a short period of time to begin with, the communication is also visually hard to find between the email headers, time stamps and signatures.
All and all, email back and forth is unnecessary, thus inefficient, and ultimately annoying.
In this post you will learn why avoiding email back and forth is important and how to do it.
Free yourself from email stress!
Reduce the number of emails you get by changing the structure of the emails you send.
Learn how with this simple one-pager.
When Email Communication Becomes Instant Messaging
Do you engage in email back and forth email communication? If your answer is “yes”, then you treat your email like an instant messenger, which email isn’t made for.
You likely keep your email inbox open all day. Consequently, emails are a constant interruption throughout your day. Lastly your instant responses just bread more emails in return.
If you don’t change anything about willingly engaging in email chains, you communicate to people that you are constantly available to them.
Word spreads.
More co-workers and constituents see you as a helpful resource who is always available to answer questions. It may become quicker and less cumbersome to just ask you instead of looking up the answer.
All this comes at a cost: your time and other people’s dependency on you.
Turning into the go-to person will become increasingly difficult to keep up with. You may even eventually run the risk of burning out.
You may think: “Ok, now you are overreacting!” Maybe I am playing a little too much devil’s advocate but email multiplies quickly. And less email equals more time back for you. More time for less tasks = you know the answer.
So, let’s tackle your email back and forth inbox, the email back and forth you are involved in and breath a little bit more 🙂
6 Tips For Less Email Back and Forth
#1 Start Using Email Appropriately
Email is an important communication platform – for official formal asynchronous communication! In turn this means, email is not a communication tool for quick messages like quick questions or “thank you”s.
Take a moment to reflect on how you and the people you communicate with use email. When do you use email vs a direct message? The quick difference is that email is official asynchronous communication for which you need a record. On the other hand instant messaging is for short, synchronous communication for which no record is needed.
To reduce your email back and forth, make sure you yourself use email for the correct type of communication. Most importantly, stop using email for short instant conversations yourself and start using email for only formal communication.
#2 Structure Emails You Send for Clarity
Once you have determined that email is way to go for the communication you are planning, ensure you structure and word your email for clarity.
The receiver(s) of you remail should instantly understand your email, it’s purpose and what they are asked to do. If that email is clear, you won’t receive follow-up questions.
#3 Read Emails Carefully to Avoid Your Own Follow-Up Questions
Now, you may have started to write very clear emails yourself. Your colleagues might not be there yet. While that may be frustration, try to make an effort and still read their emails carefully – especially when asked to do something. This may avoid your own follow-up questions.
I understand, you are busy. Getting fewer emails altogether is supposed to help with your workload. But for now, every single email you send, is one more email for someone else to answer. So, even though the emails you may receive may be hard to decipher, please try. And in that try to avoid asking follow-up questions yourself.
#4 Say Thank You Elsewhere
When someone helps you out with information via email, we are inclined to reply “thank you” via email back. Please consider to not do that.
Even if the “Thank You” email may be last one in the long email back and forth to conclude the conversation, your receiver will thank YOU, if you avoid this well-intentioned but unnecessary additional email.
Instead, consider emojis to acknowledge the thought. Another alternative is to say thank you in person, if possible, or via a different communication outlet.
#5 Ignore Emails With Already Answered Questions
Ignoring an email may not be your style. Also, it may seem like bad customer service and leave you with an uncomfortable feeling of not doing your job. However, many people do not read emails carefully. Instead, they skim over the content, miss important details which they then have questions about.
If that questions comes to your inbox, I highly recommend ignoring such emails. You already put the work in of structuring your email for clarity, such that the questions you’re asked can be answered on their own.
People are impatient. If you do not answer the email right away, the person who send you the question will likely go back to the email themselves eventually to find their answer.
If it makes you feel better, save the question, wait and see if more people have the same, with the plan to write a general response to all of them. But more often than not, letting a request sit for a little bit, results in the requests resolving itself.
#6 Move The Conversation Elsewhere
Now that you’ve started using email for only detailed, asynchronous information, have it well-structured, read the emails you receive in detail and stopped saying “thank you”, you may still receive follow-up replies to your emails.
Now what?
Well, do make sure to answer your co-workers request. How you do that, depends on the nature of the ask. If the sender is truly asking about information you missed in your original email, send them the information. Again, be structured and clear to avoid another follow-up.
On the other hand, if the answer may require further discussion, instantly move away from email as the platform.
Your organization has an instant messaging platform for short synchronous communication that does not need record keeping. If you operate in the Microsoft world, that would be Teams. In case you work in Google, you can use Google Chat. Some offices have text messaging via Zoom.
In any case, take the conversation elsewhere when email is no longer the appropriate communication tool.
How I Successfully Reduced My Email Influx
When I started working in the Senior Leadership Office, my email influx dramatically increased. Once I came back from vacation and had 200 unread emails.
Email was taking away time and stressing me out. So, I implemented rules in Outlook, started changing my own behavior so people would email me less and measured the results using Viva Insights.
To date, I have reduced my monthly written emails from 350 to 200. That’s still 10 per day, but down from 15.
The most effective way to end email back and forth for good, was to change my own behavior. As soon as I notice a conversation is better done with a phone call, chat, or by sending a quick resource, I do so.
We cannot change other people, but we can lead by good example.
I still get too many emails, because change takes time, but my overall email-related stress is declined by a lot!
You can do it, too!
Start Here
If you also want to put an end to the email back and forth in your inbox, start with yourself. Write clearer emails, ignore the ones that could answer themselves (at least for a while), and move a conversation to a phone call or instant messaging.
Want More Tips For An Easier Office Life? Consider these Articles:
How to Set up Rules for Outlook for Guaranteed Inbox Clarity
How to be Less Stressed at the Office with This Easy Email Habit
Email Back and Forth: The Best Way to End It For Good
Just Another Day at the Office – A Simple Daily Structure
How to Write a Professional Email Out of Office Notice
3 Proven Tips for Email Management Best Practices Outlook
How to Save an Email as a Template in Outlook
Rule for Gmail Inbox? 7 Easy Clicks to Set Them Up
How to Get Back Your Focus in the Workplace
Renaming Multiple Files at Once in 7 Surprisingly Easy Steps
How to Share and Email Template in Outlook and Why You Should Do It
How to Set Up a Mail Merge on Word
The Ultimate Guide to Email Subject Line Examples for Meeting Request
How to Organize Files Mac Step by Step Guide
How to Organize Files on Mac Computers
3 Easy Steps to Saving Templates in Outlook Desktop Mac
Don’t Forget
Download your free email structure template today to start.
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I wish I could shout from the rooftop of every school building, that teachers, administrators and everyone in between should structure their emails this way.
I promise you, this email structure will change how you think about your own communication, result in clarity for yourself in what you want from your audience and ultimately have the effect of fewer email responses back to you.
Click below to get your email template.
