Correspondence by email is a business communication tool that lawyers rely on every day. Lawyers often report feeling behind and overwhelmed by their inbox. The good news is that there are ways to effectively manage email to avoid getting behind. The catch is that it requires considerable thought and focus. You must be prepared to be disciplined and give this new process a solid effort for long enough to create a habit.
Assess Your Current Process
The first step in managing your email is to reflect on how you currently handle email and determine what works and what does not. How much time do you spend on email correspondence each day? Think about how many times you might review an email compared to the time you spend actually responding to the email. Be realistic with these reflections. The goal is to move from reviewing an email more than once to reviewing it only once and only when you can act on it.
Designate Specific Time Each Day to Manage Email
Setting aside specific time to respond and draft emails allows you to focus on the task at hand. In your assessment, you should have given some thought to a realistic gauge of how much of your day is spent in email correspondence. If your email volume is really high or if your practice entails the possibility of receiving urgent email, set more than one time each day to manage your email. Time allocated at both the beginning and the end of the day is likely most effective. Whether you need an hour or an hour and a half in each session is up to you. You need to allow enough time to action on email completely. Actioning on it means that you respond, delegate or delete the email. When you are finished with that session, move on. Whatever you did not get to will be dealt with at your next designated session.
The key to being efficient in these email sessions is to only review an email one time and action on it fully and completely. Review the client’s file if you need to, give it thought and then respond and process both the incoming and outgoing email to completion. The goal is to ensure that no email slips down the inbox without being actioned on and providing more meaningful responses. Establishing a set routine makes this task much more manageable.
An exception to responding immediately to any email is when the circumstance might require some time to process the email and your written response. For example, if you find yourself reacting strongly to an email you received, we recommend giving yourself a moment to step away and take a breath before you compose your response and then put a delay on sending it. This will give you time to make sure your response is thoughtful and professional.
You may need to give your clients some guidance on when it may not be appropriate to communicate by email, such as in an emergency. You may want to suggest that they contact you by phone in the event of an emergency. This expectation could be included in your retainer letter so that the client is aware of this at the outset. It can be clearly conveyed along with the other email expectations and information you will provide.
Set up Email Sub Folders for Each Client
Consider setting up email subfolders for each of your clients. This way, you can move the email to which you have responded from your inbox into your client’s subfolder. It will make it easier to find specific emails if all emails relating to that client are together. Make it an invariable practice to drag and drop emails in the subfolder once you have responded or dealt with them. You will then know that you have dealt with emails because you have moved them from your inbox. Ensure that you also drag and drop your response to the client’s subfolder as well. This will help reach the laudable goal of a zero inbox and it will hopefully be satisfying to know that the task is done and off your plate.
Don’t Review Email In Between Designated Times (and turn off those pop ups!)
Although it seems to be human nature to invite distractions, these distractions cause wasted time each and every day. Avoid these distractions by being disciplined and resist the temptation to review any email (including pop-up notifications) in between your designated times. Don’t check it unless and until you can action on it (during your specified times). We must work diligently to minimize distraction. By focusing on the task at hand, we are giving our best service to our client and being kinder to ourselves.
Explore Features of Your Email Platform
Consider setting up templates for email communications that you use often. Although there is considerable work to be done at the outset, this feature will save a lot of time in the future. Also take a look at the signature options. It may also be helpful to explore whether rules and filters might help sort your inbox. Once you have taken the time to set these up, the ongoing work will be automatic.
Use Email Management Software
Consider if it would be helpful to have email management/filing software such as Simply File and ndMail (netdocuments). Very simply speaking, you can direct an email management system to do the drag and drop function for you. Based on folder prediction technology, it determines which folder an email message belongs in. You will need to research the options to determine that you have the necessary software and system requirements.
Create a Process – Digital Copies Only, Print or Both?
Whether you have digital or physical/paper files, you need to create a process you can follow and rely on consistently. Some lawyers print all email communication for the file. Some lawyers print all email communication for the file and keep all email communication digitally. Some lawyers prefer to print only substantial email communications on the file, but they retain all email communication digitally. Some do not print any emails or only have digital files. In any scenario, creation of a consistent process for dealing with email is key.
Closed File Considerations
Consider how to capture email communications upon closure of a client’s file. Email communications can tell a significant story about the course of a file and your communications with your client. If you are saving digital copies of email communications with the client’s file, ensure that the attachments are also saved and are accessible. If you are saving physical files, ensure that you have printed off any important email communication and corresponding attachments.