Work: When others don't respond to emails?

Question

At work I think about 1/3 of my outgoing emails get answered. This is very very frustrating. Most actually don't even bother responding. In general it is about a question on some topic. What is even more irritating is that also 1/3 seem to answer my emails at my own company where I work.

Can you help me think of some guidelines when using email?

When should I use email, phone, or even go and meet the person?
How long should I wait for a response?
... and after this time what should I do?... another email? .. or then decide to phone?

If I have a question that I want to ask someone (I don't know) with email... Do I first ask if the person would have time to help... or directly ask the question?

I need a more effective way of using email.

Thanks.

Answer 1

I suggest cc' ing your supervisor so that the person that you are emailing knows you mean business.

Answer 2

I too am an overuser of email.



Here are some rules I use to determine when it's best to email or pick up the phone:



1. How soon do you need an answer? If it's immediate, pick up the phone.

2. Unless you need to write up some type of detail question, possibly using a list, and the instructions need to be retained for future use - pick up the phone instead.

3. When an email conversation gets to round 3 - pick up the phone. Instead of arguing/discussing back and forth save time by actually talking.

4. If you need to get the same message to a number of people, use email.

5. If someone is a known non-responder, pick up the phone.

6. If you need documentation that you told someone something, use email - but perhaps follow up with a phone call.



I agree that it's frustrating to email someone and then not get a response. But we need to understand that some people aren't tied to their desks or PDA's like we are, and that they have short attention spans, or are inefficient.

Answer 3

What I do is when I need an immediate response I pick up the phone and call. If theres no answer I leave avoicemail and say I am also sending an email; and in the email state that you also left a voicemail, and I mark the email urgent and put a due date on it.



If its not urgent, I send an email, and after 1 or 2 days, depending upon priority, I follow up with a phone call and advise them I'm calling becuase I didn't get a reponse from their email.

Answer 4

I say start out with the email. The ones who don't respond, you follow them up with a phone call; be sure to mention that you sent an email, but weren't sure they got it because they never responded. Also, make sure you're giving people a chance to get back to you, at least a couple of days depending on their work load. As for asking someone for a question in email if you don't know them: it's email, they can wait and get back to it if they don't have time at first, so just ask them the question directly.

Answer 5

You can set it up where you will receive a message that the person has read your email. That way, you can track reasonable reply times. Especially when time is important, or if your workload is impacted this can be helpful to show you were doing your job timely.