Top 10 tips for managing e-mail more effectively.(Credit Column)

Are you tired of searching for e-mail messages you know are somewhere? Is your electronic "Inbox" full of outdated messages? Do you frequently get ultimatums from your IS department to "clean up your act?"

Love it or hate it--or both--e-mail is increasingly the primary method for communicating in today's digital world, at work and at home. Research shows that introducing e-mail into a company increases printing by 40 percent. Let's face it, sometimes paper is highly practical. Complex proposals, for example, often require discussions where you need a printed copy that result in physical notes, making the electronic e-mail less valuable than the printed out version.

On the other hand, printing out everything is not likely a good solution. The key to managing e-mail is determining when to keep hard copy and when to keep electronic copy. In some situations, keeping both may be practical. In the case described above, for example, the printed version has value for discussion, and the electronic version has value for creating new versions after the discussion. In either event, following the principles below will improve communication and increase productivity.

Five Tips for Sending E-mail Your Recipients Will Love:

1. Use the "Subject" line to clearly describe the topic of your e-mail. This is helpful for the recipient, and for you if you want to find a message you've sent.

2. For a lengthy or complicated e-mail, create the e-mail in your word processing program and then copy to your e-mail. If you have an e-mail glitch during the sending process, you can easily retrieve your message!

3. When replying to any e-mail, attach enough of the old message for the recipient to remember the content of the original e-mail, but delete unnecessary information or duplication.