Lean Office Transformations
Welcome to Lean Office Transformations - a newsletter designed to save you time and become more efficient. References to Lean Manufacturing and Lean Office refer to a productivity philosophy created by Toyota which is now adapted by companies worldwide.
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Passport to Productivity Tip: Email Etiquette Pledge
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20 Things to Start and Stop Doing with Email
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 Business etiquette in the office is important. And even though email is regarded by some as an informal means of communication, it's still very important to follow some standard etiquette guidelines when using it. Here's a brief list of Promises which every employee should commit to. If you'd like to share this at your next staff meeting or post at work, it's available as a free download poster. www.OrganizedAudrey.com/EmailEtiquette I promise to: - Make my subject line descriptive and meaningful
- Get to the point of my email within the first two sentences
- Copy only those necessary
- Use the BCC (Blind Courtesy Copy) feature when sending an email to a group of individuals who do not know one another
- Only send emails to those who need them
- Read (and proof) my message before hitting send
- Put requests in bulleted or numbered format, along with deadlines
- Pick up the phone when I need a quick response
- Communicate clearly to my reports my expectations on being copied on their email
- Use a professional, standardized signature block at the end of each email
I promise to stop: - Over-using the High Importance (!) symbol
- Attaching a Read Receipt unnecessarily to emails
- Copying my boss on all of my emails
- Using smiley face emoticons as a way to communicate sarcasm
- Sending emails that simply say "Got it.", "Thanks", or "FYI"
- Sending email late at night or on weekends when I'm trying to clean up my Inbox
- Sending long, rambling emails
- TYPING IN ALL CAPS
- Hitting "Reply to All" when only the original sender needs my response.
- Sending emails written with text messaging abbreviations
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Personal Productivity Challenge:
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Sometimes an organized desk is just minutes away. I dare you to take the 5-Minute Challenge. Using this online timer set to 5 minutes, begin looking around for things that can be tossed or quickly stored and put away. You may have clutter on your desk, in your drawers, on top of filing cabinets or hiding under your desk. See what you can do in the next 5 minutes in order to bring a little more organization to your work area.
When time is up, send me an email - Audrey@OrganizedAudrey.com - I want to know what sort of things you were able to deal with in a mere 5 minutes. You might be surprised at how quickly you were able to make decisions that resulted in a cleaner, neater work space!
Ready? Set. Go!
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Free Articles for your Organization
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Audrey Thomas offers you her articles to reprint or repost - FREE - provided that her name and contact information (supplied at the end of each article) are included. So if you want to share her articles with others, please take advantage of this valuable resource.
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