In a year when the average business user spends more than one hour per day processing email, the question on everyone�”s mind seems to be: �SHow can I get through my email faster?⬝ Email has thrust us into a seemingly never-ending loop with no clear solution in sight. If I receive 100 messages per day now, it takes me X hours to process them. But the volume of email � the flow � is not a constant. It�”s dynamic. Not only is it dynamic, it�”s exponentially increasing for many of us. If you do the math, it may seem that if the number of messages you receive per day is increasing and you want to spend the same amount of time processing email, the simple solution is to learn how to get through your email faster. Fast is good, but it�”s not the only thing that will make a difference. Eventually, no matter who you are and how fast you are at processing email, the volume of messages coming in will exceed the number that you can process during the time you have available.

The key to getting through your email faster is not only in how you process it, but what you are receiving; or, more importantly, how you choose to invest your time.

#1. Reduce your flow
If you�”re receiving 100 messages per day, how many of them are spam (bulk unsolicited commercial email)? Perhaps you need to do a better job of filtering spam or using strategies that will reduce the amount of bulk email you receive each day. One effective way to reduce your flow is to really pay attention the next time you process email. Most people skim, scan, delete without looking/reading, talk on the phone while typing or reading an email, thinking that they are saving time by multi-tasking.

Do yourself a favor. Tomorrow is a new day. When you check email tomorrow, pay attention to what is arriving in your Inbox. Look at each message briefly and decide how important it is to you or whether it is important. Do you subscribe to industry-specific newsletters? If so there are probably at least one or two that you don�”t have time to read each week. Trim the fat. If you don�”t have time to read it, why are you still on the mailing list? Unsubscribe using the link on the newsletter or list. Or, if it�”s important to you, make time to read it, but don�”t just let it keep piling up in your Inbox. Decide what is necessary email and what is not and take steps to get off of the mailing lists you don�”t read.

#2. Be more selective!
How you spend your time speaks volumes about who you are as a person and what things are truly important to you � that really matter most. Take control of what you do and do not need to deal with. Are you receiving email from co-workers who are cc�”ing you (copying you) unnecessarily? This happens a lot if you�”re a manager. Unless you specifically tell people what you do and do not need to be copied on, the others on your team may start to send you CYA mail. CYA mail is otherwise known as FYI mail (for your information), and most of the time all it really turns out to be is something that the other person thought you should know. They�”re not you and they�”re not mind readers, so be clear with those in your organization what you do and do not need to receive.

#3. Don�”t use your Inbox as a storage area!
Think of clicking Send/Receive as being analogous to walking to the curb and reaching in your mailbox for today�”s mail. Do you stand in front of your mailbox at the roadside and sort through your mail for what�”s urgent and important and then stuff the rest of the mail back into the box and head back to the house? Of course not! So why do you do it with email?

Your Inbox was never meant to be a storage area for messages. This is a huge shock to some people � the same people who can�”t locate a message when they need to, the same people who touch an email message three or four times before they act on it, the same people who take a week or longer to reply to an email message or who miss out on opportunities because the message was pushed to the bottom of their Inbox.

#4. Get organized!
Create a handful of folders or mailboxes that will be useful to your own unique situation and use them to get messages out of your Inbox. Perhaps you might do your professional reading on Fridays, blocking out a chunk of time in the afternoon or morning. If so, create a folder in your email program called README. As newsletters and other professional reading comes in, don�”t give it more than a cursory glance other than to identify it and move it out of your Inbox to the README folder.

Perhaps you receive a lot of spam. Techniques of reducing spam are beyond the scope of this article, but one great filter to have in place on your email program is to create a filter that is a negative filter. Positive filters look for text in the subject line or headers and are triggered by it. Negative filters look for the absence of text that you specify and are triggered if the text is not there. Some email programs allow you to set negative filters like: IF To: OR Cc: DOES NOT CONTAIN you@youremailaddress.com THEN MOVE message to JUNK MAIL folder. Much of the spam being sent is not addressed directly to you. If your email program does not offer negative filtering, set up a positive filter that looks for only your address in the To: or Cc: fields and sends those messages to the Inbox, while sending everything else to Junk Mail. This is a bit more difficult because then you must create a filter for each newsletter you subscribe to or subscribe under a different account.

Perhaps you have messages that arrive that require some type of action. If you can do it in less than two minutes, do it when it comes in. If not, it becomes a Task or an Appointment. Set the appropriate reminder and MOVE the message OUT of your Inbox to a folder called ACTION. Work quickly. Delete what you don�”t need, reply to what you can and MOVE the rest out.

#5. Use the Golden Rule!
�SIf the email message that you are reading is going to take you longer than five minutes to read and reply to, it needs to be a phone call.⬝

Spread the word! You�”ve got voicemail and a telephone! Dust them off and use them! More information can be exchanged in a two-minute phone call than in any email that takes you ten minutes to write and the other person ten minutes to read. The door swings both ways, too. Don�”t send email messages that are long enough to be newsletters and expect that the recipient will read them. They won�”t. They might read the first paragraph and scan the second and third, so you�”re wasting your time and theirs by sending a book instead of picking up the phone. Make a list of frequently called numbers and put it in a sheet protector near your phone to save you the time of looking them up!

To date, about a third (34%) of organisations have adopted self-service applications, with nearly half (48%) planning to do so in the future. Just 14% have ruled out this option completely.

The primary advantage is in reducing the HR administrative burden, thus freeing up HR personnel to concentrate on other tasks. This is followed by the increased accuracy of the data provided and the empowerment of individuals. Employees now have much greater control over the data held on them and can easily access information online that would previously have required contacting the HR department.

Another increasingly popular approach for delivering HR services is the creation of shared service centres: 21% of the companies interviewed have already implemented a shared service centre with a further 7% planning to in the future and 14% evaluating the option. The remaining 47% have no plans to go down this route.
The key benefit of adopting this approach is the opportunity to cut administration costs in areas such as payroll, mentioned by 77%, employees joining and leaving (60%) and in the recruitment process (60%).

For those companies who have adopted shared service centres the results to date seem fairly positive, with 20% saying they have been ��very successful�” and 47% ��somewhat successful�”. For 20% of the companies it is still too early to judge success.

The emphasis on investing in self-service applications suggests organisations are moving towards viewing employees as an asset to be managed, rather than as a cost to control. This thinking is reflected in a new approach to HR called Human Capital Management (HCM) which sees HR professionals primarily as strategic consultants rather than operational dogsbodies.

So far only 7% of organisations have implemented an HCM system with a further 13% considering its implementation. The largest number of companies, 38%, has no plans to implement and nearly a quarter (24%) are not familiar with HCM.

Survey Statistics:

Over 100 companies were interviewed for this year�”s survey on HR systems. A substantial proportion of respondents (43%) are from the public sector, demonstrating the level of change occurring and the move to shared service centres. Other sectors represented are business services (15%), manufacturing (11%), distribution & logistics (10%) and banking & finance (8%).

The respondents represent a spread of different sized companies with 4% having in excess of £5 billion turnover, 6% in the £1billion to £5 billion bracket and 15% in the £500 million to £1 billion range. In the mid-range, 37% have between £100 million and £500 million turnover and 11% are in the £50 million to £100 million range. At the smaller end 18% have a turnover between £10 million and £50 million and 9% £5 million to £10million.

Stage Fright is still the #1 fear in public speaking.

And, right or wrong, people form a perception of who we are and what we represent by the confidence that we show when we speak.A person who can stand in front of a group, with poise and confidence, can immediately create the perception of competency. However, a person who is shy and timid in front of a group will have a tough time convincing his/her audience that he/she is capable of doing the job.

This seminar will help you overcome nervousness, get rid of the butterflies, stop the shaky hands, and eliminate the sweaty palms. This workshop will help you feel as comfortable presenting to a group as you are talking to a friend in the office. Class members tell us that one reason results come fast in this seminar, is because they�”re actually having fun (feeling safe) while practicing, stretching, and ingraining new skills.

Day 1 Agenda:

1. Ease Fear and Nervousness
2. Confident 1st Impressions
3. Being Clear & Concise
4. Connect with Audience
5. Gaining Credibility
6. Designing your Speech
7. Persuade your Audience

Day 2 Agenda:

1. How to Write a Speech
2. Gestures
3. Selling your Ideas
4. Adding Impact
5. Using Props & Exhibits
6. Impromptu Talks
7. Handling Q&A
8. Electronic Presentations

Ideal Attendees

1. Management or Management Trainees
2. Professionals who make presentations at Staff Meetings or other meetings
3. Professionals who address the public
4. Trainers or Trainers
5. Anyone who wants improved self confidence and personal presentation

Course Objectives

1. Tickle listeners�” brains;
2. Touch listeners�” emotions;
3. Attract and hold listeners�” attention;
4. Project credibility and likability simultaneously;
5. Motivate listeners to take action;
6. Improve listeners�” retention;
7. Encourage and control interactivity;
8. Minimize credibility killers and potential disasters;
9. Instill confidence and excitement in both listeners and attendees regarding presentations.

Course Length

1. Two Days
2. Course Materials
3. Tailored workbook for notes during program
4. Attendees�” videos are theirs to keep

Course Outline

1. Pre-Work Assignment (30-60 minutes)
2. Design 5-minute Business Presentation
3. Use Abridged Persuasion Formula
4. Attendees Arrive to Course with Prepared Presentation

Content (3 hours)

1. Review of Persuasion Formula
2. Tickling Listeners�” Brains
3. Achieving Motivation
4. Improving Retention
5. Presentations & Taping: focus on content

Voice (1 1/2 hours)

1. Expanding Vocal Variety
2. Learning to Slow Down
3. Using Pauses for Effect
4. Projecting Voice Properly
5. Eliminating Verbal Fillers
6. Presentations & Taping: focus on voice

Body Language (3 hours)

1. Proper Stance
2. Psychology of Space and Height
3. Using Notes Professionally
4. Gesturing to Support the Message
5. Hands & Facial Expressions
6. Moving Around⬦On Purpose
7. Presentations & Taping: focus on gestures
8. Eye Contact
9. Presentations & Taping: focus on eyes

Questions (2 hours)

1. Mechanics of Fielding & Answering
2. Maintaining Control
3. 7 Strategies When Don�”t Know the Answer
4. Maintaining Credibility
5. Presentations & Taping: fielding questions
6. Visual Aids (3 1/2 hours)
7. Five Keys to Using Any Visual Aid
8. Characteristics of Powerful Aids & Handouts
9. Visual Aid Lab
10. Presentations & Taping: focus on using aids

Zhuang Shunfu, deputy to the Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress, made this suggestion along with 12 other deputies during the ongoing provincial congress. The proposal, if adopted, would legalize imports of household staff in the southern Chinese province and perhaps eventually other parts of the country.

“There is a growing demand for foreign household helpers, especially those from southeast Asian countries like the Philippines, who have won a good reputation in Hong Kong, neighboring Guangdong,” said Zhuang.

Some agencies in Guangdong have already advertised the availability of Filipino maids, who are described as having college educations and experience in Hong Kong.

“None of the foreign household helpers working in China’s big cities like Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Beijing and Shanghai are legal, since China only issues legal work permits to foreign professionals, not common laborers,” explained Zhuang.

The deputies proposed that a pilot program be launched in two or three cities under which work visas would be issued to foreign household staff. Zhuang said the law would need to be amended for this purpose.

He said that there are some 500,000 agencies for household staff in China, but many firms complained that they could not find high-quality household staff for affluent Chinese families or expatriate residents, as most service staff are from poor rural areas and have little education.

The Boni Household Service Agency in Shanghai specializes in providing household staff for foreigners. The company defines high-quality household helpers as those who can speak fluent English and do more than just simple cleaning. That means anything from arranging the family diet to managing household expenses and gardening, in addition to caring for children and the elderly, cooking and doing household chores.

The monthly salary for a five-star household helper, the highest level, is well above 2,500 yuan (US$350), which is competitive with wages in Hong Kong, according to the company.

Household staffing agencies in Guangdong estimated that demand for such maids in Shenzhen and Guangzhou is around 100,000 in each city.

Asia-Pacific markets last year were propped up by investor confidence that China and its hot economy would offset negative impact from any slowdown in the U.S. That Chinese life raft is now seriously leaking. Stock markets throughout Asia took a hammering on Jan. 21. And with the U.S. futures markets expecting a 500-point plunge in the Dow Jones industrial average when American markets reopen, the rout continued on Jan. 22 in Asia as worries about a recession in the U.S. and a slowdown in China continued to scare away investors.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 ended the Jan. 22 session down 5.65%, to 12,573, as the index fell below 13,000 points for the first time since October, 2005. The steep fall came after a 3.86% dive the day before. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index followed its 5.5% drop on Jan. 21 with a fall of another 8.65% on Jan. 22, and Shanghai was down 7.2%, after a 5% drop a day earlier. South Korean shares fell sharply, with the benchmark Kospi index falling 4.4% after declining 2.95% the day before. “The contagion effects are spreading rapidly,” says Ahn Young Hoe, chief investment officer at Seoul-based fund manager KTB Asset Management. “The epicenter is the U.S., but Japan and Europe have been hit and China doesn’t appear to be free from the shock now.”

In the process, the “decoupling” theory�that a sinocentric Asia would buoy the world while the U.S. sank into recession&mdashhas been shredded. Companies with China exposure are now taking the hit. Declines in Korean shares have been led by shipbuilding and steel shares that benefited the most last year from China’s sizzling growth.

Samsung Heavy Industries, one of the country’s largest shipbuilders, dropped 6% on Jan. 22 while Hyundai Steel, a leading Korean steelmaker, fell 6.5%. In Australia, shares fell again, continuing an uninterrupted two-week drop that has seen big declines in resources heavyweights such as BHP-Billiton (BHP), which had been riding high, thanks largely to growing demand from China. The Anglo-Australian giant’s shares have dropped 22.8% so far this year.

Cooling Off at a Bad Time
As in other parts of Asia, investor worries about China start with questions about how many more billions of dollars banks such as Bank of China will need to write off because of bad bets on U.S. subprime securities (BusinessWeek.com, 1/16/08). But the fears extend far beyond the U.S. financial crisis to other issues. China may be cooling off at just the wrong moment for world economic growth. Beijing has been trying to slow down the Chinese economy, which last year grew at close to a 12% clip. To do that, the government has been letting the Chinese currency, the yuan, appreciate at a faster pace against the U.S. dollar. The government also has been raising reserve requirements for Chinese banks. Starting Jan. 25, the amount that banks need to keep on reserve with the People’s Bank of China, China’s central bank, will jump another 50 basis points to 15% of their total deposits.

At the same time, to combat inflation that’s running at more than 6.9% in November, the government on Jan. 16 introduced price controls on food and liquefied petroleum gas. “We have already seen shortages of coal and fights over gas,” says Garry Evans, Asia Pacific equities strategist at HSBC (HBC) in Hong Kong. “These problems will get exacerbated. Companies will cut back on production if they are making a loss on every unit.”

While the measures are starting to have an impact in cooling off the Chinese economy, they’re also hurting earnings at Chinese companies that have become accustomed to growth numbers heading in one direction only, up. China’s exports are set to slow dramatically this year, according to Stephen Green, an economist in Shanghai with Standard Chartered Bank (STAN.L). Last year, for instance, exports accounted for 2.5 percentage points of the country’s GDP growth, but in 2008 that figure will shrink to 1.3 percentage points and next year will fall to zero.

Spillover into Hong Kong, Taiwan
As demand from the U.S. and other markets causes China’s export engine to sputter, more Chinese companies will be focusing on the domestic market and cutting prices to gain market share. “You will see more price pressure,” predicts Green, who expects China’s GDP growth to drop two full percentage points this year, to 9.5%.

The recent performance of China’s largest fixed-line telecom operator, China Telecom (CHA), provides a sense of just how bad Chinese price wars can get. The state-controlled company on Jan. 21 reported that it had lost a record 1.48 million subscribers in December due largely to intense competition from rivals China Mobile (CHL) and China Unicom (CHU), cellular operators that have been slashing prices to pick up customers.

Problems in China’s corporate sector could spill over into the rest of Greater China, where Hong Kong and Taiwan have become increasingly dependent on growth from the mainland. Hong Kong’s tourism and retail industries have been big beneficiaries of spending by Chinese visitors, and that’s helped drive down the city’s unemployment rate to just 3.6%.

Taiwanese investors have been hoping for a similar Chinese-powered surge following legislative elections on the island last week. The elections saw the opposition Kuomintang, which favors closer ties with the mainland, score a decisive win over the party of lame-duck President Chen Shui-bian, who has been against fast opening of the island to its longtime rival across the Taiwan Strait. “There’s been some optimism, post-election,” says Eli Polatinsky, an economist in Hong Kong with Macquarie (MQBKY). Even so, though, he expects Taiwanese growth to fall to 4% this year, compared with 5.23% in 2007, as the impact of the U.S. downturn hits the island’s export-dependent electronics makers. If you’re an investor in Taiwan, he says, “you clearly don’t want to be in tech.”

Fears for Japan’s Economy
In Japan, the subprime-inspired slowdown in the U.S., Japan’s largest export market, and the rising yen, which moved above 106 yen to the dollar in morning trading Jan. 22, are major concerns for exporters. Shares in Nissan (NSANY), which makes more than half its earnings in North America, are off 25% this month alone. “It is quite difficult to take an optimistic attitude toward the U.S. market [as a whole],” Nissan Chief Operating Officer Toshiyuki Shiga told reporters in Tokyo on Jan. 21, although he said Nissan, which increased U.S. sales by 4.7% in a shrinking market in 2007, was in good shape.

Adding to the downward momentum, there are also worries that Japan’s domestic economy is slowing. The Nikkei newspaper reported Jan. 22 that new condo offerings had slumped to a 14-year low, although one reason for the falling supply is the botched introduction of stricter housing standards last year, which slowed down new building starts. The government has already trimmed its GDP growth target for the year to 1.3%, down from 2.1% a year ago. And the Cabinet Office’s monthly consumer confidence survey shows consumer sentiment has been on a slide since the end of 2006 amid sluggish wage growth. “A recession is not our baseline scenario, but we see a heightened risk of one, particularly given the shaky global backdrop,” wrote Kenichi Kawasaki, chief economist at Lehman Brothers (LEH) in Tokyo, in a note to clients last week.

While it’s unclear how much worse things will get in the U.S., there’s some reason to hope that the situation in China might improve later this year, says Cho Yong Jun, head of research at Shinyoung Securities in Seoul. The Chinese authorities may relent in their battle against inflation if local food supplies increase and food prices drop. Until then, though, the picture doesn’t look good. “We are going to have a cold winter,” says Cho.

Good morning/afternoon, everyone.
If we are all here, let’s
. . . get started (OR)
start the meeting. (OR)
. . . start.

Welcoming and Introducing Participants

Please join me in welcoming (name of participant)
We’re pleased to welcome (name of participant)
It’s a pleasure to welcome (name of participant)
I’d like to introduce (name of participant)
I don’t think you’ve met (name of participant)

Stating the Principal Objectives of a Meeting

We’re here today to
Our aim is to …
I’ve called this meeting in order to …
By the end of this meeting, I’d like to have …

Giving Apologies for Someone Who is Absent

I’m afraid.., (name of participant) can’t be with us today. She is in…
I have received apologies for the absence of (name of participant), who is in (place).

Reading the Minutes (Notes) of the Last Meeting

First let’s go over the report from the last meeting, which was held on (date)
Here are the minutes from our last meeting, which was on (date)

Dealing with Recent Developments

Jack, can you tell us how the XYZ project is progressing?
Jack, how is the XYZ project coming along?
John, have you completed the report on the new accounting package?
Has everyone received a copy of the Tate Foundation report on current marketing trends?

Moving Forward

So, if there is nothing else we need to discuss, let’s move on to today’s agenda.
Shall we get down to business?
Is there any other business?
If there are no further developments, I’d like to move on to today’s topic.

Introducing the Agenda

Have you all received a copy of the agenda?
There are three items on the agenda. First,
Shall we take the points in this order?
If you don’t mind, I’d like to … go in order (OR)
skip item 1 and move on to item 3
I suggest we take item 2 last.

Allocating Roles (secretary, participants)

(name of participant) has agreed to take the minutes.
(name of participant) has kindly agreed to give us a report on this matter.
(name of participant) will lead point 1, (name of participant) point 2, and (name of participant) point 3.
(name of participant), would you mind taking notes today?

Agreeing on the Ground Rules for the Meeting (contributions, timing, decision-making, etc.)

We will hear a short report on each point first, followed by a discussion round the table.
I suggest we go round the table first.
The meeting is due to finish at…
We’ll have to keep each item to ten minutes. Otherwise we’ll never get through.
We may need to vote on item 5, if we can’t get a unanimous decision.

Introducing the First Item on the Agenda

So, let’s start with
Shall we start with. .
So, the first item on the agenda is
Pete, would you like to kick off?
Martin, would you like to introduce this item?

Closing an Item

I think that covers the first item.
Shall we leave that item?
If nobody has anything else to add,

Next Item

Let’s move onto the next item
The next item on the agenda is
Now we come to the question of.

Giving Control to the Next Participant

I’d like to hand over to Mark, who is going to lead the next point.
Right, Dorothy, over to you.

Summarizing

Before we close, let me just summarize the main points.
To sum up, …
In brief,

Shall I go over the main points?

Finishing Up

Right, it looks as though we’ve covered the main items
Is there Any Other Business?

Suggesting and Agreeing on Time, Date and Place for the Next Meeting

Can we fix the next meeting, please?
So, the next meeting will be on… (day), the . . . (date) of.. . (month) at…
What about the following Wednesday? How is that?
So, see you all then.

Thanking Participants for Attending

I’d like to thank Marianne and Jeremy for coming over from London.
Thank you all for attending.
Thanks for your participation.

Closing the Meeting

The meeting is closed.
I declare the meeting closed

A great productivity enhancer? Ha! E-mail can be a tremendous waste of time unless you know how to tame the savage beast, says Stever Robbins.

Being at or near the the top of your organization, everyone wants a piece of you. So they send you e-mail. It makes you feel important. Don’t you love it? Really? Then, please take some of mine! Over 100 real e-mails come in each day. At three minutes apiece, it will take five hours just to read and respond. Let’s not even think about the messages that take six minutes of work to deal with. Shudder. I’m buried in e-mail and chances are, you’re not far behind. For whatever reason, everyone feels compelled to keep you “in the loop.”

Fortunately, being buried alive under electronic missives forced me to develop coping strategies. Let me share some of the nonobvious ones with you. Together, maybe we can start a revolution.

The problem is that readers now bear the burden
Before e-mail, senders shouldered the burden of mail. Writing, stamping, and mailing a letter was a lot of work. Plus, each new addressee meant more postage, so we thought hard about whom to send things to. (Is it worth spending thirty-two cents for Loren to read this letter? Nah⬦.)

E-mail bludgeoned that system in no time. With free sending to an infinite number of people now a reality, every little thought and impulse becomes instant communication. Our most pathetic meanderings become deep thoughts that we happily blast to six dozen colleagues who surely can’t wait. On the receiving end, we collect these gems of wisdom from the dozens around us. The result: Inbox overload.

(”But my incoming e-mail is important,” you cry. Don’t fool yourself. Time how long you spend at your inbox. Multiply by your per-minute wage(*) to find out just how much money you spend on e-mail. If you can justify that expense, far out�you’re one of the lucky ones. But for many, incoming e-mail is a money suck. Bonus challenge: do this calculation companywide.)

(*) Divide your yearly salary by 120,000 to get your per-minute wage.

Taming e-mail means training the senders to put the burden of quality back on themselves.

How you can send better e-mail
What’s the best way to train everyone around you to better e-mail habits? You guessed it: You go first. First, you say, “In order for me to make you more productive, I’m going to adopt this new policy to lighten your load⬦” Demonstrate a policy for a month, and if people like it, ask them to start doing it too.

Use a subject line to summarize, not describe.
People scan their inbox by subject. Make your subject rich enough that your readers can decide whether it’s relevant. The best way to do this is to summarize your message in your subject.

BAD SUBJECT:
GOOD SUBJECT:

Subject: Deadline discussion
Subject: Recommend we ship product April 25th

Give your reader full context at the start of your message.
Too many messages forwarded to you start with an answer�”Yes! I agree. Apples are definitely the answer”�without offering context. We must read seven included messages, notice that we were copied, and try to figure out what apples are the answer to. Even worse, we don’t really know if we should care. Oops! We just noticed there are ten messages about apples. One of the others says “Apples are definitely not the answer.” And another says, “Didn’t you get my message about apples?” But which message was sent first? And which was in response to which? ARGH!

It’s very, very difficult to get to the core of the issue.

You’re probably sending e-mail because you’re deep in thought about something. Your reader is too, only they’re deep in thought about something else. Even worse, in a multi-person conversation, messages and replies may arrive out of order. And no, it doesn’t help to include the entire past conversation when you reply; it’s rude to force someone else to wade through ten screens of messages because you’re too lazy to give them context. So, start off your messages with enough context to orient your reader.

BAD E-MAIL:
GOOD E-MAIL:

To: Billy Franklin
From: Robert Payne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Please bring contributions to the charity drive
Yes, apples are definitely the answer.
To: Billy Franklin
From: Robert Payne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Please bring contributions to the charity drive.
You asked if we want apple pie. Yes, apples are definitely the answer.

When you copy lots of people (a heinous practice that should be used sparingly), mark out why each person should care.
Just because you send a message to six poor coworkers doesn’t mean all six know what to do when they get it. Ask yourself why you’re sending to each recipient, and let them know at the start of the message what they should do with it. Big surprise, this also forces you to consider why you’re including each person.

BAD CC:
GOOD CC:

To: Abby Gail, Bill Fold, Cindy Rella
Subject: Web site design draft is done

The Web site draft is done. Check it out in the attached file. The design firm will need our responses by the end of the week.
To: Abby Gail, Bill Fold, Cindy Rella
Subject: Web site design draft is done
AG: DECISION NEEDED. Get marketing to approve the draft

BF: PLEASE VERIFY. Does the slogan capture our branding?

CR: FYI, if we need a redesign, your project will slip.

The Web site draft is done. Check it out in the attached file. The design firm will need our responses by the end of the week.

Use separate messages rather than bcc (blind carbon copy).
If you bcc someone “just to be safe,” think again. Ask yourself what you want the “copied” person to know, and send a separate message if needed.Yes, it’s more work for you, but if we all do it, it’s less overload.

BAD BCC:
GOOD BCC:

To: Fred
Bcc: Chris
Please attend the conference today at 2:00 p.m.
To: Fred
Please attend the conference today at 2:00 p.m.

To: Chris
Please reserve the conference room for me and Fred today at 2:00 p.m.

Make action requests clear.
If you want things to get done, say so. Clearly. There’s nothing more frustrating as a reader than getting copied on an e-mail and finding out three weeks later that someone expected you to pick up the project and run with it. Summarize action items at the end of a message so everyone can read them at one glance.

Separate topics into separate e-mails ⬦ up to a point.
If someone sends a message addressing a dozen topics, some of which you can respond to now and some of which you can’t, send a dozen responses�one for each topic. That way, each thread can proceed unencumbered by the others.

Do this when mixing controversy with mundania. That way, the mundane topics can be taken care of quietly, while the flame wars can happen separately.

BAD MIXING OF ITEMS:
GOOD MIXING OF ITEMS:

We need to gather all the articles by February 1st.

Speaking of which, I was thinking ⬦ do you think we should fire Sandy?
Message #1: We need to gather all the articles by February 1st.

Message #2: Sandy’s missed a lot of deadlines recently. Do you think termination is in order?

Combine separate points into one message.
Sometimes the problem is the opposite�sending 500 tiny messages a day will overload someone, even if the intent is to reduce this by creating separate threads. If you are holding a dozen open conversations with one person, the slowness of typing is probably substantial overhead. Jot down all your main points on a piece of (gasp) paper, pick up the phone, and call the person to discuss those points. I guarantee you’ll save a ton of time.

Edit forwarded messages.
For goodness sake, if someone sends you a message, don’t forward it along without editing it. Make it appropriate for the ultimate recipient and make sure it doesn’t get the original sender in trouble.

BAD FORWARDING:
GOOD FORWARDING:

To: Bill
Sue’s idea, described below, is great.

—

From: Sue
Hey, Abner:

Let’s take the new design and add sparkles around the border. Bill probably won’t mind; his design sense is so garish he’ll approve anything.
To: Bill
Sue’s idea, described below, is great.

—

From: Sue
Hey, Abner:

Let’s take the new design and add sparkles around the border⬦

When scheduling a call or conference, include the topic in the invitation. It helps people prioritize and manage their calendar more effectively.
BAD E-MAIL:
GOOD E-MAIL:

Subject: Conference call Wednesday at 3:00 p.m.
Subject: Conference call Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. to review demo presentation.

Make your e-mail one page or less.
Make sure the meat of your e-mail is visible in the preview pane of your recipient’s mailer. That means the first two paragraphs should have the meat. Many people never read past the first screen, and very few read past the third.

Understand how people prefer to be reached, and how quickly they respond.
Some people are so buried under e-mail that they can’t reply quickly. If something is important, use the phone or make a follow-up phone call. Do it politely; a delay may not be personal. It might be that someone’s overloaded. If you have time-sensitive information, don’t assume people have read the e-mail you sent three hours ago rescheduling the meeting that takes place in five minutes. Pick up the phone and call.

How to read and receive e-mail
Setting a good example only goes so far. You also have to train others explicitly. Explain to them that you’re putting some systems in place to help you manage your e-mail overload. Ask for their help, and know that they’re secretly envying your strength of character.

Check e-mail at defined times each day.
We hate telemarketers during dinner, so why do we tolerate e-mail when we’re trying to get something useful done? Turn off your e-mail “autocheck” and only check e-mail two or three times a day, by hand. Let people know that if they need to reach you instantly, e-mail isn’t the way. When it’s e-mail processing time, however, shut the office door, turn off the phone, and blast through the messages.

Use a paper “response list” to triage messages before you do any follow-up.
The solution to e-mail overload is pencil and paper? Who knew? Grab a legal pad and label it “Response list.” Run through your incoming e-mails. For each, note on the paper what you have to do or whom you have to call. Resist the temptation to respond immediately. If there’s important reference information in the e-mail, drag it to your Reference folder. Otherwise, delete it. Zip down your entire list of e-mails to generate your response list. Then, zip down your response list and actually do the follow-up.

Charge people for sending you messages.
One CEO I’ve worked with charges staff members five dollars from their budget for each e-mail she receives. Amazingly, her overload has gone down, the relevance of e-mails has gone up, and the senders are happy, too, because the added thought often results in them solving more problems on their own.

Train people to be relevant.
If you are constantly copied on things, begin replying to e-mails that aren’t relevant with the single word: “Relevant?” Of course, you explain that this is a favor to them. Now, they can learn what is and isn’t relevant to you. Beforehand, tell them the goal is to calibrate relevance, not to criticize or put them down and encourage them to send you relevancy challenges as well. Pretty soon, you’ll be so well trained you’ll be positively productive!

Answer briefly.
When someone sends you a ten page missive, reply with three words. “Yup, great idea.” You’ll quickly train people not to expect huge answers from you, and you can then proceed to answer at your leisure in whatever format works best for you. If your e-mail volume starts getting very high, you’ll have no choice.

Send out delayed responses.
Type your response directly, but schedule it to be sent out in a few days. This works great for conversations that are nice but not terribly urgent. By inserting a delay in each go-around, you both get to breathe easier.

(In Outlook, choose Options when composing a message and select Do not deliver before. In Eudora, hold down the Shift key as you click Send.)

Ignore it.
Yes, ignore e-mail. If something’s important, you’ll hear about it again. Trust me. And people will gradually be trained to pick up the phone or drop by if they have something to say. After all, if it’s not important enough for them to tear their gaze away from the hypnotic world of Microsoft Windows, it’s certainly not important enough for you to take the time to read.

Your only solution is to take action
Yeah, yeah, you have a million reasons why these ideas can never work in your workplace. Hogwash. I use every one of them and can bring at least a semblance of order to my inbox. So choose a technique and start applying it. While you practice, I’ll be on vacation, accumulating a 2,000 message backlog for when I get home. If you want to know how well I cope, just send along an e-mail and ask⬦.

Communicating in a way that says “I⬲m a professional” is a skill you can learn … like playing tennis or speaking a foreign language. That⬲s what this seminar is all about… to teach you to overcome the special communication challenges you face as a woman and equip you with new skills that will make you more effective in the workplace.

You⬲ll gain many useful “how-to⬲s”, take part in useful exercises designed to build your ability fast and learn from the experiences of others who⬲ve faced the same challenges you face. Spend just one day with us and you⬲ll never again feel invisible in meetings and groups … powerless in day-to-day dealings with people … and frustrated with not being taken seriously. Don⬲t miss this opportunity for enhanced communication skills that really work. Call now to reserve your space in this valuable seminar.

In this seminar you�”ll learn…

⬢ How to project a more credible, self-assured communication image

⬢ How to speak with greater ease in meetings and presentations

⬢ How to handle conflicts and confrontations with dignity and control

⬢ Ways to express your opinion with authority�and tact

SEMINAR AGENDA

⬢ Project a communication image that commands respect

⬢ The principles of polite but powerful communication�how and when to use them

⬢ Assess your communication style: Is it working for or against you?

⬢ Avoid common communication mistakes that hold women back

⬢ Gain the assertive woman⬲s secret to speaking up without seeming pushy

⬢ Forget what you learned as a child�learn to ask for and get what you want

Harness the tools of results-oriented communication

⬢ Identify and eliminate unconscious speech habits and mannerisms that weaken your message

⬢ How to control your body language�and how others perceive you

⬢ The language of power�how to speak it to sell yourself and your ideas

⬢ When, where and how to practice your new skills�and keep them primed

Handle conflicts, difficult people and confrontations with composure

⬢ How to neutralize volatile work conflicts before they get out of hand

⬢ Dealing with out-of-control people�without adding fuel to the fire

⬢ Are verbal bullies a problem? You don⬲t have to put up with them!

⬢ How to stop tears, anger and other inappropriate emotions�in an instant

⬢ How to turn down excessive or inappropriate requests without feeling guilty

Use listening skills to your advantage

⬢ What your ability to listen has to do with your personal power

⬢ How to tactfully, but firmly, interrupt long-winded talkers

⬢ Astonishing ways silence can open communication channels

⬢ How to decode nonverbal signals�and predict people⬲s behavior

⬢ Exactly how to get others to listen to you

Persuade, negotiate and achieve power over people

⬢ The most common areas of concern for women in high-stakes negotiations

⬢ Changing how even the most stubborn people think to win them over

⬢ We all want win-win solutions�but what does it take to find them?

⬢ What to do when the other person keeps saying “No”

Say it with tact

⬢ The assertive “No”�how to say it without explaining

⬢ When others criticize you, don⬲t get mad�develop your “assertive response”

⬢ Get comfortable giving criticism that is useful�not hurtful

⬢ What not to say in the sticky situations that cause women the most headaches

⬢ How to be at your communication best when asked to give impromptu talks

Get your point across in meetings and before groups

⬢ A quick primer on how to stand out�for the right reasons�in meetings

⬢ Calming down before making a big presentation�tips that work

⬢ A sure-fire way to deal with people who interrupt you

⬢ How to hold your own in meetings where men do all the talking

⬢ You⬲ve developed your presentation�now here⬲s how to beef it up

⬢ “How-to⬲s” for making impromptu remarks and handling unexpected questions

Start conversations, build rapport and leave a positive impression

⬢ Having trouble connecting with people you meet? Problem solved!

⬢ You⬲ve only got 3 seconds … how to make a million-dollar first impression

⬢ How to change your internal dialogue and present yourself as a power player before higher-ups

⬢ The most important rule to follow when networking

In this seminar you�”ll learn⬦

• How to rid your life of unproductive behaviors like procrastination, lack of organization and chronic lateness.
• To stop taking setbacks personally�learn to bounce back quickly.
• To manage the stress of workplace change by �Sgoing with the flow⬝.
• How to put the power of self-discipline and healthy routines to work in your personal life.

Seminar Agenda

• Emotions�where they come from and how they affect you.
• What⬲s your typical response to difficult people and situations? How⬲s it working for you?
• How to conquer 4 basic emotions that affect everything you do (or don⬲t do).
• 7 emotional patterns that cause most of what troubles us.
• How to see situations and people the way they really are�without distortion or judgments.
• Stop the emotional train by detecting exactly when an intense emotion is taking over.
• 5 traits every emotionally �Sin control⬝ professional possesses.
• The E-factor: Overcome draining emotions and regain your energy and zest for life.
• Your hot buttons�4 ways to keep people from pushing yours.
• What your emotions have to do with your weight.
• A remarkable, 8-step process for mastering your emotions.

Know how to eliminate behaviors and habits that hinder success.

• How to face up to conflict, in spite of the almost irresistible urge to run away.
• Wanting to change a habit isn⬲t enough�here are 5 steps for turning your �Swish⬝ into action.
• How to give yourself the most wonderful gift of all�the ability to choose your emotional response on the spot.
• How to stop worry from spiraling out of control.
• How even the most well-intentioned people procrastinate and what you can do about it.
• The single best way to turn off negative self-talk.
• How to recognize and deal with the 6 most common self-defeating behaviors.

Take control of anger and other strong emotions.

• Common misconceptions about anger�and how to replace them with the truth.
• New, healthy ways for releasing anger.
• Reinterpreting events that would normally cause you to �Slose it⬝.
• What to do immediately when you feel you⬲re going to cry.
• How and why to detect underlying causes of anger (without going to a therapist)
• How to rewire your brain and stop overreacting�for good.
• How to see anger as a feeling�not an insurmountable fault.
• Replacing patterns of distorted thinking with �Sreality thinking⬝.
• What to do when you feel you⬲re going to blow up.

Stay positive and productive in the midst of workplace change.

• The very real connection between stress and intense emotions.
• Dealing with workplace changes you have no control over�the secret to �Sgoing with the flow⬝.
• Why some people thrive on the feeling of being overwhelmed.
• Evaluate the inaccurate judgments you make about yourself after a mistake�and correct them.
• How to act calmly under pressure�and feel that way inside, too.
• Scientifically proven ways to remove stress and the symptoms associated with it.
• A new way to look at communication and how it can protect you from emotional overload.
• Challenge anxious, fearful thoughts�3 guidelines that work.
• 4 steps for turning �Sfollow through⬝ into one of your best habits.

Tackle life⬲s challenges with a new sense of discipline.

• Surprisingly simple routines that will add new balance to your life.
• Nourishing yourself with planned downtime and healthy sleep.
• Maintaining your new emotional sanity by living the �Ssimple life⬝.
• How to stay on even keel�a new systems approach to managing demanding work responsibilities.
• The plain and simple truth about perfectionism.
• Organization⬲s a good thing�but know when it turns into a destructive compulsion.

1. How you can increase the levels of collaboration and mutual support among team members,
2. co-workers and managers
3. How to express your ideas in ways that gain the attention, support and respect of others
4. How to quickly �Sfit in⬝ with any group of people
5. How to make an unforgettable, positive first impression on anyone
6. Excellent interpersonal communication skills are the most potent career and personal skills you can possess. Learn how to communicate effectively and confidently with these practical and proven techniques and skills that are essential for managers, supervisors, team leaders… anyone interested in heading for the top!

Seminar Agenda

How to create rapport, build trust and establish your credibility

• Learn the secret to quickly establishing rapport and conversing easily with new acquaintances
• Do others see you as trustworthy? How to ensure that your words and actions tell others you⬲re a credible, reliable professional-a person who can be counted on!
• How to �Sbreak the ice⬝ and get a good conversation going, even with a total stranger
• How to be immediately accepted into any group of people even if you seem to have nothing in common with them
• How are your mouth management skills? It⬲s vitally important to your credibility that you know how to keep confidences confidential and secrets secret
• Concrete steps you can take to increase the level of trust, cooperation and support from your co-workers, employees and your boss
• How to avoid sending contradictory or confusing signals about yourself

Making an impact-how to have power and influence with people

• Why it really does matter whether or not people like you-and how to make it happen
• The 3 things you can give away that will return you the loyalty, devotion and friendship of others
• A sure-fire way to make enemies-and how to avoid it
• The secret of Socrates-how to get others to see your point of view with the gentle method that has worked wonders for more than 2,000 years
• The 15 vital interpersonal skills shared by influential people-how do you measure up?
• Understanding the 6 major components of personal charisma-and what you can do to further develop these qualities in yourself
• Clear and assertive communication skills
• Never be put on the spot again! You⬲ll learn how to think on your feet when challenged with a difficult or negative question
• Learn the 9 steps of assertive communication that will put power and confidence in your words
• 3 easy-to-use assertive listening techniques that will make all your communications more effective
• Should you respond to a �Sput-down⬝? Yes! You⬲ll learn how to effectively handle put-downs, slurs
• Learn positive techniques for delivering constructive feedback to co-workers, employees, even the boss
• When you⬲re on the receiving end-how to accept and learn from negative feedback without becoming hurt or angry
• How to handle it when you⬲re criticized in front of others
• Communicating with difficult people and in tough situations
• How to recognize the 7 most difficult personality types and how to deal with each
• The 6 basic steps for dealing with all negative behavior
• Special strategies to use when the difficult person is the boss
• How to practice your new communication skills in low-risk situations

How to use a fail-safe strategy for keeping a disagreement from escalating into an argument

• Understanding how your thinking style affects your ability to handle difficult people and situations
• How to say �SNo⬝ without feeling guilty or causing resentment
• How to deal with your feelings of anger and helplessness when dealing with difficult people and unreasonable behavior
• How to handle malicious gossip and back-stabbing in a way that preserves your credibility and dignity

How to make an unforgettable, positive first impression

• How to use the first 4 minutes to make a dynamite impression on anyone you meet
• Learning how to correctly �Sset the stage⬝ for every interaction
• How you can avoid the most common blunders that create a negative impression
• Recognizing the single biggest factor that determines whether or not people take you seriously
• How using what Dale Carnegie called �Sthe sweetest sound in any language⬝ makes you someone people remember
• 3 ways you can demonstrate that you⬲re a positive and self-confident professional

Business etiquette-professional polish that shows

• The 6 basic rules of business etiquette-ignore these at your peril!
• Recognizing and eliminating unconscious sexism from your speaking and writing
• Business introductions-whom do you present to whom? Should you stand? What⬲s the most appropriate greeting?
• Important etiquette tips to remember when interacting with your boss
• No matter where you work, there⬲s one point of protocol that you must know!
• How to handle the many etiquette questions that still arise about the sexes
  working together. Who pays for lunch? Who opens doors? What about shaking
  hands? You⬲ll learn up-to-date ways of dealing with these and other questions
  in ways that make everybody feel good