INTHEBLACK December 2021 - Magazine - Page 70
WORK SMART
// T E C H TA L K
Above: With Spike, you can chat via text or video in your inbox.
TOOLS
TO FIGHT
THE EMAIL
OVERLOAD
M AKE EM AIL WOR K F O R YO U I NSTEAD OF AGA I N ST
YOU WITH THESE TI ME AND SANI TY SAV I N G A P P S.
STORY GLENN REES
T
ry as we might to avoid it, most of us
spend too much of our workday on email.
The shift to remote working has made the
situation worse – what time we gained by having
fewer distractions and no wasted commute time,
we have lost to the increased volume of emails
since the start of the pandemic.
Email alternatives, such as Slack and Microsoft
Teams, work well to a point. The trouble is, your
entire team needs to use the same app, equally
enthusiastically and consistently. Otherwise,
people tend to default back to the standard
business communication tool – email.
70 ITB December 2021
Despite all its annoyances, there is a definite
upside to having a busy email inbox – it is
where much of our “workflow” begins. The
key is to be able to identify and act on the
important emails quickly, while not getting
bogged down in lower-value emails and tasks.
Here are some of the tools that can help.
OUTLOOK ADD-INS
The first step to conquering your inbox is
to declutter it. Microsoft Outlook has tools,
including categories, folders and tasks,
designed for sorting and prioritising your emails.
Above: Nimble works like a CRM app inside your inbox.
Setting them up – and keeping the system
going – requires time, effort and discipline.
Thankfully, many other apps can help. For
example, SaneBox and SimplyFile can do
much of the sorting for you. Both use artificial
intelligence to analyse how you use email and
automate or simplify your email filing.
Next, Outlook’s outdated Tasks tool can be
swapped for a modern app that may do a
better job for you.
Most task and project managers, such as
Asana, Trello and Wrike, have Outlook add-ons
that allow you to easily turn your emails into
actionable tasks.
Flow-e takes this approach even further
by transforming your inbox into a central
task management app. For easily scheduling
videoconferences, Microsoft Teams and
Zoom offer add-ins that integrate with
Outlook’s Calendar.