What does your business email inbox look like right now? Is it crowded, unsorted, and confusing?
Are you having difficulty finding the emails you need, or the ones that are most important? Or worse, are you losing critical emails in the morass that is your personal work inbox? Maybe it’s time to take a closer look at Microsoft Outlook and how it can help you separate the email wheat from the chaff.
Microsoft Outlook is the top email program for businesses, followed by Gmail, Thunderbird, Zoho Mail, and Hiver. If you have Microsoft 365, you’re probably already using Microsoft Outlook, but chances are you could definitely be using it better. Here are a couple of ways you can start doing that at work now.
Simplify
You don’t want email software that’s unwieldy or overwhelming. Microsoft is none of these, and you can use it as a simple email client or use its advanced features designed to save you time and prevent losing precious, productive hours. Let’s take a closer look.
Organize
Make email easy and structure your folders to organize your emails. I know it initially takes time, but then you spend less time deleting and looking for emails later. Create those folders and move complex and non-critical emails to a “To Do” folder. Use the Task List to prioritize certain emails, and the clean-up function to clear a drowning inbox.
Make Your Own Rules
That’s right, you can do this at work with Microsoft Outlook. Rules can be made to automatically sort emails and stop receiving Amazon notifications in your work inbox. (That is, if you want to.) This is a great way to stop getting office emails that are irrelevant to you. Automatic notifications are often redundant, too numerous, and distracting. Make a rule to put them into another folder automatically and immediately watch your personal productivity increase.
Default Response Creation
Do you answer the same three questions from clients, coworkers, or managers fifty times a day? Well, it’s time to stop typing that long paragraph out again and again with all the necessary niceties even when you’re not feeling nice about it anymore. Instead, create a Quick Part to insert the text you want into email replies with a couple of easy clicks. Kiss copy and paste goodbye. Save lots of responses in your Quick Parts Gallery, and you’re good to go.
Quick Steps Usage
Does email come faster into your inbox than you’re able to open it? Quick Steps is for the advanced Microsoft Outlook user who wants to take care of a simple task with one step instead of ten. Quick Steps will let you perform a string of actions based on a Quick Step you created that is now available in the Home ribbon of your Outlook screen. For instance, you can forward all documents you have to review to a simple person with one click.
Automation
Automation is your friend, especially with Microsoft Outlook. Take advantage of all the different repetitive action automation options and make your work life or business easier, more productive, and less frustrating.
Microsoft Outlook was built to create an easier platform for emailing in business, and using it as a simple tool when your business is complicated doesn’t make sense. If you’re unsure how to make Microsoft Outlook work for you, contact LAN Infotech today. You’ll be so glad you did! We’ll guide you through the software, pointing out ways you can simplify, organize, automate, and make rules to create a more harmonious and systematic email inbox.