Guide to Organizing Emails for Increased Productivity and Project Management

CLIMBING OUT OF THE EMAIL QUAGMIRE
LOVE LETTER FROM A SKEPTIC
Francisco A. Laguna, JD, CDFA

I recently attended a productivity seminar geared to tackling the daunting task of managing email. The presenters spoke about the increasing number of emails that bombard us, the habit-forming (indeed addictive) need to check and respond to emails, and the often paralyzing effects of email on the workforce.

Initially, I considered the systems being discussed as interesting tools that would work for others, but not for me, because I had my own tried-and-true procedures for managing emails and the work arising therefrom. The presenters had already encountered the likes of me, describing us as the 10% of persons who learn about the program and choose not to implement it because they have their own systems in place. As the seminar progressed, however, I became a convert – despite myself.

That said, allow me to introduce “Orla”. Orla is an email management system developed in Australia that goes far beyond organizing emails. It is the first tool I’ve discovered that offers a coherent and comprehensive methodology for managing the many elements of workflow including correspondence, tasks, scheduling, short- and long-term projects, and others. A brief summary of just one of its features, email management, follows. Others will be described in future articles.

Here is how Orla manages incoming email traffic. The goal of the system is to keep in-boxes free of email by training users to decide what to do with each message. The developers of Orla rightly distinguish between managing one’s in-box and performing work. That essential distinction is largely overlooked by email users. As a result, email management derails work with routine interruptions, a lack of prioritization, and the failure to strategize. Efficiency and productivity are the casualties throughout the work force.

In sharp contrast, Orla users decide what to do with each incoming email by applying a “4D” approach: ditch / delete it; deal with it now either because it is of immediate importance, or it will take less than two minutes to address; delegate it to someone else; or decide what to do with it, including setting up a task, scheduling an appointment, putting it on your watch-list, filing it with a project, and more. I am particularly fond of the ditch and delegate options!

For me, one of the most revolutionary elements of Orla is its capacity to embed emails into selected tasks, calendar entries, projects and other functions. I’m not a techie, so an example helped me understand this feature.

My partner, Dawn, sends me an email asking me to write a client proposal letter. The message contains information that I will need in preparing the correspondence. Rather than keep the message open in my inbox, as is typical for most users, with the click of a button I schedule a task. Orla automatically embeds the original email into the task. So, not only will I be reminded on the appropriate date to write the proposal, I will also have instant access to the original email. Orla ends the need to search in-boxes for related emails because they are now appended to the corresponding task (or appointment, project or watch-list item)

In addition, Orla provides the ability to attach other documents to the task in question. Any file that is stored on any drive or network to which we have access – in any format – can be embedded. For example, I may choose to append a proposal template, in Word, or a spreadsheet, in Excel, to the task. When it comes time for me to work on the letter, I will be able to retrieve immediately the various items I need to complete the task: Dawn’s original email with instructions; and the proposal template, spread sheets, etc.

The same feature can be used with the calendar function. If I schedule a telephone call or meeting as a result of an incoming email, I will be able to prepare for the appointment by having easy access to both the related message and any file that may be pertinent.

Although the features I’ve described here just skim the Orla surface, having heard about them, I could no longer come up with any reason to resist implementing Orla. I became a convert.

Orla is used in combination with Microsoft Outlook. It will be launched in the U.S. market in early 2008.

© 2007 Francisco A. Laguna, Simply in Place, LLC