It's a Jungle in There              

I've said it before and I'll say it again, we pretty much love and hate email at the same time.  Most of us who use email do the following fairly regularly:

·    Read an email message but keep it in the InBox to take action at a later time.

·    Read an email message and keep it for future reference.

·    Quickly eyeball the messages in our InBox selecting those we feel we must read, leaving the rest for later.

·    Store all previous mail conversations, not just the last one in the "string" in the InBox.

It's a cluttered way to view "mail", much like traversing a wild jungle, but it does have its advantages sometimes, and that's why we all do it.  If we would pick a few email management "rules" and follow them, we might get less frustrated and save valuable time. And I think we'd all agree...all time is valuable.  So here are a few tools to help you whack through all the tangle of strings and emails.

1.    How about identifying and eliminating redundant conversations?  The Conversation View in Outlook 2007 let's you display messages with the same subject under one single conversation. When you receive an email message that has the same conversation title, the entire conversation moves to the top of the Inbox and the latest message is displayed at the top of the conversation list.  How to do this? Simply take a minute to click View/Arrange By and select Conversations. Now you can view, review and decide on how to deal with the messages in the conversation.  This works best if you're not the first person to respond.  There's no gold star for your forehead like in 3rd grade for raising your hand to be first to answer.  One of the benefits of working your email in this way is that those you converse with will grow to love you if you're the one who summarizes and highlights the action items.  Oh and if you have upgraded to Outlook 10 it's really easy to get rid of entire conversations you no longer want by Ignoring the Conversation which  moves the conversation to the Deleted Items folder.  Then there's the Conversation Clean Up command.  This command retains only the most recent message that holds the entire conversation and deletes redundant messages.  Very, very cool when combined with something like our CRM software that lets us save the message to multiple parties in a single click.  That way when you ask yourself, "Where is that conversation about XYZ?", you can quickly search some of the people you remember were involved and get the whole conversation.

2.     Many of you have assistants who help manage your mail.  I like to call this person the "guide" in the jungle.  They are out in front and know the jungle better.  If you have a guide, you might find the Mark as Unread option is very helpful. It's a simple right-click of a message or highlighted messages and choosing Mark as Unread. The assistant can read and gather what they need and then mark it as Unread so it stays ready for your attention. This tool is also good if you're the only person reading and responding and you want to revisit a message at a later point of time because it's been "unread" and needs attention.  

Next week I'll detail a couple more tips in the hope of helping us make our way through the email jungle easier so we can enjoy the view.

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Penn Station, Inc. trades as Penn Station East Coast Subs at 227 locations throughout IL, IN, KY, MI, MO, NC, OH, PA, SC, TN, VA and WV. The sandwich shops occupy spaces of 1,500 sq.ft. to 1,800 sq.ft. in power and strip centers. Plans call for 30 openings throughout the existing markets, as well as AL, AR, GA, IA, KS and WI, during the coming 18 months. Typical leases run five years with options. Preferred cotenants include GameStop, Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries and Chipotle. Major competitors include other sandwich shops. Preferred demographics include a population of 50,000 within three miles earning $50,000 as the average household income. The company is franchising. Smaller strip centers are preferred, and the company will also consider spaces of as much as 2,000 sq.ft. in select circumstances.  For more information, contact Mark Partusch, Penn Station, Inc., 1226 U.S. Highway 50, Milford, OH 45150

Kirkland's, Inc. trades as Kirkland's at 300 locations nationwide throughout 29 states.  The home furnishings stores, offering gifts, decorative accessories and housewares, occupy spaces of 7,500 sq.ft. to 10,000 sq.ft. in freestanding locations and power and strip centers.  Growth opportunities are sought nationwide during the coming 18 months.  Typical leases run five years.  A vanilla shell and specific improvements are required.  Preferred cotenants include Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, Marshalls and T.J. Maxx.  A land area of one acre is required for freestanding locations.  For more information, contact Sarah Weaver, Kirkland's, Inc., 2501 McGavock Pike, Suite 1000, Nashville, TN 37214

Continental Rental, Inc. trades as Continental Rental at 22 locations throughout MI.   The stores, offering the rental and sale of appliances, bedroom sets, electronics, furniture, stereo systems, computers and snowblowers, occupy spaces of 3,000 sq.ft. in freestanding locations, malls and strip centers.  Growth opportunities are sought throughout the existing market during the coming 18 months.  For more information, contact James Patterson, Continental Rental, Inc., PO Box 1308, Bay City, MI 48706

Mattress Giant operates 360 locations throughout the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S.  The mattress stores occupy spaces of 4,000 sq.ft. in freestanding locations and power and specialty centers.  Growth opportunities are sought throughout the Baltimore, MD metropolitan area during the coming 18 months, with representation by Paraclete Realty.  For more information, contact Charlie Phelps, Paraclete Realty, 9648 South Pines Road, Suite 100, Warrenton, VA 20186

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