What can the U.S. Congress teach us about the electronic mail
overload?

Your electronic mailbox is filling up right now. So are the
electronic mailboxes of Congresspeople. The overload is so
great that the Congress Online Project compiled a report on
how bad the problem was and what Congress could do. The report
is available at http://www.congressonlineproject.org/ and
offers practical suggestions for both the technical and the
human issues raised by the crushing weight of the
electronic-mail inbox.

Where to Start Your Analysis

When you are considering your electronic mail system, you can
look at four critical points in the process. They include

1)how mail comes to you;

2) how it is handled before you see it (this includes filtering and automatic deletion);

3) how you actually access the data in the mail (this includes file
compatibility); and

4) how you respond to the mail.
The report noted five challenges that electronic mail
presents. It is, by nature, electronic so it is easy to modify
without a trace. The ease of using it has made electronic mail
a growing medium for idea exchange. The limited resources each
of us have-in time or frustration levels-means that everything
does not always get done. The perceived unimportance of
electronic mail, and, by extension, the perceived unimportance
of the persons handling it (technicians, system
administrators) has led to a benign neglect of the attention
people place on a fast response to electronic mail.
To respond to these human and technical challenges, the report
suggests four key principles of an effective electronic mail
system. They are certainly worth our consideration for our own
systems.

Key Principles of Effective Electronic Mail:

Policy statement: This is a statement that electronic mail is
important and that it adds value to the services we perform.
This is as important for an in-house mail system that
exchanges only draft documents and research results as it
would be for a massive mail system that processes hundreds of
messages from inside and outside the office all day long.

Plan to inform by other means: If you observe the same
question repeats, consider creating a section on your web site
that has the answer and use hypertext links to it. Frequently
Asked Questions (FAQ) files are an Internet convention you can
use to advantage. Online surveys are also available to get a
read on how people are responding to your material. If you do
not have a web site, create your answer and store it on disc
for instant retrieval-with a bit of customization, it becomes
an effective response. Consider the use of
autoresponders-online utilities that respond instantly to
electronic-mail requests with stored responses.

Automate as much as possible: In addition to using
autoresponders, use filters to sort your incoming electronic
mail. Most electronic-mail programs have filtering capability.
They are a bit tedious and unforgiving because they are based
on inflexible rules. Those rules give the process the speed
you want. The two-hours-per-day I spent sorting one day's
electronic mail was cut to two seconds by using filters. It is
in your interest to automate the process because electronic
mail is becoming important, you will save substantial time,
you will save money, and you will have more opportunities for
outreach (or marketing, if that is your concern).

Respond quickly: The essence of electronic communication is
speed. People have higher expectations for electronic
communication. If you are expecting incoming electronic mail
that requires response, do arrange to check it and respond to
it. Here, the tools like autoresponders and hypertext links to
online answers provide the instant gratification that people
seek.