Business Continuity is the area of focus this week for The Tech Salon.   For small- to mid-sized businesses it is crucial to the survival of the business.  Yet many small- to mid- sized and SOHOs (small-office, home office) businesses operate without data backups and recovery plans.

Over the years, I have talked to many business owners and know that many business backup their data  but they do not have a data recovery plan or process and do not know if they can recover in the event of an emergency.  As one of my Facebook friends commented last week “small biz owners may not understand that ‘recovery‘ or restore is a process.”  So, I am here to tell you that recovery is a process and you need to know if you can recovery your data.

According to Wikipedia, business continuity is the  ” activity performed by an organization to ensure that critical business functions will be available to customers, suppliers, regulators, and other entities that must have access to those functions. These activities include many daily chores such as project management, system backups, change control, and help desk. Business Continuity is not something implemented at the time of a disaster; Business Continuity refers to those activities performed daily to maintain service, consistency, and recoverability.”

Blah, Blah, Blah... The take away is that you have to plan to recover your data if something bad happens.  You have to backup, then you have to run test periodically to see if you can recover your data.  End of story.

© 2010, the tech salon inc.. All rights reserved.

As you think about how you would like to manage your email more effectively and efficiently, here are a few things to think about.

1.  Slow down to speed up.

When one feels overwhelmed by one’s inbox, spending more time processing email does not make you feel less overwhelmed.  Slow down, think about what type of email you are receiving and whether you really need it or need to act upon it

2.  Use one application to manage multiple email accounts.

Currently, I have at least eight (8) email accounts (truly a long story) and my goal is to reduce that number to three.  Six of the eight are sent to my personal Gmail account, which filters all of them into separate folders based on the email account name.  I also have additional sub-folders that filter based on topics and individuals.

In terms of business, I have a separate account that I log into and sub-categorize emails based on topics and individuals.  At some point, I will add my business account to my personal Gmail account but the reason I have not is because Google does not allow for multiple signature.  I know it is a matter of time.  In fact, I have sent an email requesting that feature.

Microsoft Outlook also has the ability to manage multiple email accounts.  The nice thing about Outlook is that you can create multiple signatures.

3.  Use email filters and folders

I cannot reiterate this enough.  I filter most of my messages.  The most important ones go to my inbox so that when I check my email I will act on those immediately, if necessary.  I also should state that I generally do not filter messages from friends and family, even though some of those messages contain jokes and the like I generally process them immediately when I review email.

In addition, I created a folder called “For Deletion,” which I have found to be extremely helpful.  I put a lot of email I receive from email lists I have signed up over the years. It is mostly email that I call “for information purposes only.”  I scan this folder once a day.  I delete its contents at the end of the week.

4.  Disable alerts and set aside specific time to respond to email

Disable your email alerts.  You do not need to know every time you get an email as this can be very distracting especially if you feel the need to read or act upon each email you receive. My suggestion is to set aside time to check your email and respond to the most important things.  I am scheduled to check email three times a day and I send myself a reminder.  Of course there are times I check it more than three times a day.

5.  Unsubscribe to any lists or groups

I am always thinking about whether I need to receive an email or not, especially from many of the lists to which I have subscribed.  If not, I remove myself.  My thinking is that I can always decide to subscribe again.  There have been very few, if any, lists to which I have “re-subscribed.”

6.  Use the “4 Ds of Decision-Making” to process email: Delegate, Delete, Delay or Do.

For every piece of email, ask “Can I delegate, delete, delay, or do?”

If you can quickly respond, that is, do something with it; try to complete it in five minutes or less.  Otherwise you should delay your response.  For messages I delay, I either add to my tasks list or flag. When more time is available, I review them and complete the required task or response.

Managing email is an ongoing process.  However, to manage it effectively and efficiently as possible, you need to create a system that works for you and your schedule.

© 2010, the tech salon inc.. All rights reserved.

Email can be a pain but once you put systems and processes in place it is very manageable.  My friend uttered the statement about email several times and I felt her pain.  As a techie, I wanted to help her solve her problem.   So, I tentatively ventured to ask more details.

I found out that she gets at least 400 emails a day.  Given her position and the work she does on a global scale, it was very plausible.  The question (at least for me) was why was she looking at them or, at least, looking at most of them.  She felt they were all important and that her staff was too new to handle them properly.   From my perspective, all of those messages could not be important.  As my father said to me years ago, “If everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority.”

Over the course of the trip, we talked more and more about how she could better manage her inbox.  To be fair, I talked about how she could better manage her inbox.   As I relayed some suggestions, I could see her rethinking how to management her inbox more effectively.

As a result, I have developed a number of concrete suggestions that I think may be helpful.  As you rethink how to “cope” with your email, I would recommend you develop a mantra, especially when you feel overwhelmed by your inbox.  I have many but my favorite is “slow down to speed up.”  This is courtesy of Daniel Grissom, sales coach and author of “STEP UP! How to WIN MORE and Lose Less in BUSINESS!” I worked with Daniel several years ago and this is one of the things he would say to me all the time.  I love it!  It made me feel less guilty when I took the time to organize, not only my technology, but my life.

Tomorrow, I will give you a few things to consider when gaining control over your email in part two of TCE: Taking Care of Email.

© 2010, the tech salon inc.. All rights reserved.

© 2010, the tech salon inc.. All rights reserved.

Over the years many clients have told me they do not want to be techies but felt that many of the technical solutions that are proposed require them or their staff to spend an inordinate amount of time maintaining and supporting their systems.  On more than one occasion, they express frustrations over loss of focus on their core business.

The Tech Salon understands this frustration and seeks to do things differently.  We create customized cutting-edge solutions that focus on helping you get work done and minimize disruptions.  We also help you create a multi-year strategy to keep up with technological changes.  It is no longer an option of whether you are going to do an “upgrade”, it is a matter of when and to what.

Every year, there are many new products and services available.  How and when do you choose? Wouldn’t it be nice to call a trusted advisor and strategist to decipher all of the buzzing?  Now you can.

© 2010, the tech salon inc.. All rights reserved.