Productivity Tips Newsletter
For Results, Goals & Success

Welcome to the NEW Gulas Group Productivity Newsletter. This issue deals with the pitfalls of e-mail and the impact it can have on your action plan. We hope you will find it useful and if so, pass it on to other friends and colleagues.

This Issue: Who's in Charge of Your Day?
by Ted Gulas

More Effective and Fewer E-Mails through Team Commitment

SITUATION:
Billy Bob starts his workday at 8:00 AM. First thing he does each day is to look over his e-mails. Yesterday, he opened his e-mail and discovered 45 messages. He decided to work on the list and take control. An interesting fact is that Billy Bob is most productive in the morning. As he started to execute the tasks from his e-mail, he noticed one action item would lead to another and then another. Before he knew it, it was 11:15 AM.

Billy Bob had a luncheon appointment at noon, which was only thirty minutes away. Short on time, Billy Bob frantically started looking for notes and relevant information to prepare for the luncheon meeting. Being late for the meeting and stressed by the drive, Billy Bob's day did not get any better. The remainder of the day he was pushed and pulled by situations, circumstances and events. He ended the day without a glance at his "to do list".

PROBLEM:
Billy Bob is a fire fighter. Constantly stomping out fires, he is doing things right. The problem is Billy Bob is not doing the right things, for the right reasons, at the right times, with the right resources. His approach is what's creating the fires to begin with. He is a Stage 2 Priority Manager (to determine which stage you are at take this free assessment.)

SOLUTION:
Call a team meeting with this agenda "More effective and fewer e-mails through team commitment." Brainstorm using the Mind Mapping techniques taught in Priority Planning. Isolate the 10 general areas to improve. They are:

• URGENCY
• SUBJECT/TITLE
• RESPONSE REQUIRED
• CONTENT
• LENGTH OF MESSAGE
• DISTRIBUTION
• LARGE DOCUMENTS
• OPEN ISSUES
• MEETINGS
• HANDLING E-MAILS EASILY

During your meeting, review these 40 e-mail thought starters in the above ten categories. Agree to solutions and time frames for executing action plans that improve e-mail effectiveness. Should you have any questions or need any tips, feel free to call us at 800-239-2910.

If someone you know is having a tough time deciding, doing or delivering their work effectively, please forward this e-mail to them or send them to our web site to subscribe.