There are a lot of emails that are of the nature of "maybe I'll need this information - I don't really want to delete it." These go to my temp folder to get them out of my inbox. About once a month I go through it. Most of the items have lost their importance or have subsequently been overtaken by more current information and get deleted. Some stay. If they are important enough to survive for aboout 6 months, I move them to an archive folder.
I've taken a number of communications courses. One of them threw out a statistic: in 40% of disagreements, there is no difference of opinion, there is merely a difference of understanding. Occasionally when things seem to go off the track around the office, I have to pull back and think, "are we communicating?"
If communications doesn't solve the problem, at least it clarifies what you're fighting about and is more likely to lead to a mutually agreeable solution.
My answers
Make a Temp Folder
There are a lot of emails that are of the nature of "maybe I'll need this information - I don't really want to delete it." These go to my temp folder to get them out of my inbox. About once a month I go through it. Most of the items have lost their importance or have subsequently been overtaken by more current information and get deleted. Some stay. If they are important enough to survive for aboout 6 months, I move them to an archive folder.
Spot on
I've taken a number of communications courses. One of them threw out a statistic: in 40% of disagreements, there is no difference of opinion, there is merely a difference of understanding. Occasionally when things seem to go off the track around the office, I have to pull back and think, "are we communicating?"
If communications doesn't solve the problem, at least it clarifies what you're fighting about and is more likely to lead to a mutually agreeable solution.