As a leader, you're almost certainly no stranger to a constantly pinging inbox. Each time you come out of a meeting they’ve multiplied yet again and trying to get through them all feels like an impossible task.
For most of my clients, inboxes have a tendency to feel pretty overwhelming. The sheer volume of messages, coupled with the pressure to stay responsive and informed, can create stress and be a major productivity drain.
But by implementing smart strategies and role modelling a healthy email culture, you can regain control, boost your own productivity and set a great example for your team about the good habits to build.
In this post, I’ll share seven practical tips. These aren't just theoretical concepts—they're simple, helpful strategies that have helped shift clients from frazzled to in control
Personal Organisation: Taming Your Inbox
The first step is to create some boundaries and habits around how you organise yourself when it comes to ploughing through your emails.
1. Batch Process Emails
Batch processing means that instead of having your emails open and arriving ad hoc, demanding your attention throughout the day, you allocate specific times to handle them. Rather than shoehorning in 5 minutes here and there between meetings, allocate and block out specific times in your calendar
Set aside 2-3 specific times each day to process emails
Communicate this schedule to your team and key stakeholders so they know how to contact you for genuinely urgent things
By batching your email processing, you'll improve your ability to give thoughtful responses whilst not being constantly scattered in focus away from other things you need to work on. It will almost certainly feel uncomfortable at first, but persevere
2. Implement an Email Triage System
Not all emails are created equal, so why treat them as if they are? Use a triage system to quickly sort and prioritise your messages:
Create labels or folders like "Immediate Attention" "This Week," and "Info Only"
As you scan your inbox, sort emails into these categories, using immediate attention to mean it’s time bound or you not acting on it is holding others up
Focus on addressing those first. Then you can handle lower priority messages or read through those that are for information
3. Practise Strategic Non-Involvement
As a leader, it’s far too easy to stay involved in every conversation. You might be on mailing or circulation lists you don’t need to be. You might read questions and know the answer, so you get drawn into typing an explanation in reply
Try these tactics to reduce the number of emails you need to respond to:
Identify email chains where your input isn't crucial and remove yourself
Set up rules to automatically filter things like bounceback emails or system generated ones you don’t need to read but may need to refer back to
If there’s a question only you can answer, consider whether it would be quicker to call than type a lengthy reply
Email culture within your team / business
Creating a healthy email culture isn't just about managing your own inbox—it's about setting the tone for your team (and in some cases, your entire organisation). Here are some approaches to consider establishing
Consistent team guidelines
Establish consistent labels that help recipients prioritise (e.g., "Urgent," "For Information," "Action Required"). This saves everyone having to scan and make that assessment when they receive the email.
Encourage people to include specific response deadlines and be honest rather than arbitrary about them. Either in the subject line, or at the top of emails. That way the recipient knows when they need to act on it. For example, "Decision required by 2pm Thursday" makes clear that the reader will need to make a decision and when it needs to be communicated back.
Introduce the "One Big Thing" rule for complex topics. If an email covers multiple complex issues, it's likely to be overwhelming and involve a wider range of stakeholders. Important points may get missed and people may weigh in on ‘reply all’ threads to points that weren’t even intended for them. So agree to stick to one major point per email where possible.
None of these is particularly onerous, but they make it easier for people receiving emails and if you stick to the rules your team is likely to buy in
Writing emails well
When you craft emails well, they land better and require less back and forth. So let’s look at how to do that without spending forever trying to think about what to write and how to write it
Focus on Intent and Outcome
Before you start typing, take a moment to consider:
What do you want the recipient to think, feel, or do after reading your email?
How can you craft your message to achieve this outcome?
Is email the best medium for this communication, or would a quick chat be more effective?
This approach ensures your emails are purposeful and action-oriented. It also helps rescue the risk of firing off an emotion driven email that will escalate things rather than make life simpler
Keep Them Short & Sweet
So many emails are read on mobiles or small screens, it’s easy to lose the flow with anything lengthy. Keep your emails short and to the point
Challenge yourself to get your message in three sentences or less when possible. This forces you to focus on the essentials.
Use AI tools to help redraft emails for clarity and conciseness. These can be particularly helpful for complex messages or if English isn't your first language.
If a topic really does need a longer explanation, consider having a call or scheduling a meeting instead. You don’t need to spend hours - a 10-minute conversation can be more effective than a lengthy email exchange.
Use Structural Elements for Clarity
Make your emails easy to digest and act upon:
Use the Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) method: start with your main point or request. Then provide supporting information, relevant data or considerations that support it. This is especially important when communicating with busy senior leaders who have even more emails than you to get through..
Use subheaders to break up longer messages and enable people to skim through quickly and easily. This is particularly useful for the times you need emails that don’t fit the “One Big Thing” rule
Use bullet points for lists or multiple action items. Similar to BLUF, these often work well when placed at the top because they make it easier for the recipient to quickly grasp what's needed.
Implementing these strategies isn’t going to happen overnight, and you may never get to inbox zero but you can make life easier for yourself and for others in your email life by establishing just some of these habits.
Ready to transform your email habits and boost your team's productivity? Book a free consultation to discuss how my leadership coaching can help you implement these strategies and more.