Are the amount of emails in your inbox increasing? It’s your responsibility to keep up with them, especially if they are from your boss! Find out why it’s important to reply to your manager right away.
Email etiquette can seem like a minefield at times. Different people expect different norms to be followed, and offices operate in different ways. It is always a good idea to learn what is expected in your particular workplace and to follow its particular quirks and norms as best you can.
However, there are some email tips that will never steer you wrong. One such tip is to answer emails from your manager immediately, or as quickly as you reasonably can during the working day. Here’s why.
Show That the Message Has Been Read and Understood
Once your manager has received a reply to their message, acknowledging that you have read and understood it, they can put it out of their minds and get on with the next task. Managers tend to be extremely busy, so your manager will appreciate being able to tick something off their mental list.
Quick acknowledgements like this help to build trust and show your manager that they can rely on you to be on the ball. This is all good news for your standing within your team and for your eventual career progression.
Your response does not need to be long unless the original message calls for a detailed response. For example, your manager might email to assign a task to you. A suitable reply might be “no problem – I’ll have that with you by the end of the day” or something similar. It takes seconds to politely acknowledge an email, even one that does not strictly “require” a response, and the positive results are worth it.
Take the Opportunity to Ask Questions
Sometimes, an email from your manager might require additional clarification. You might be missing necessary information to complete a task, or simply need to confirm when the deadline is for a piece of work they have assigned to you.
Responding immediately with any follow-up questions allows your manager to answer while the subject is still at the forefront of their mind. Getting the information you need quickly also means that you can get on with the task as soon as possible.
Demonstrate That You Are Using Your Time Well
Good managers trust their staff and do not micromanage them or their time. Even so, you should strive to show your manager that you are on-task and using your time well. This is particularly true if you are working from home, which more people than ever have been doing since the start of the pandemic. While working remotely makes many people more productive, it does mean that there is an extra step when it comes to showing your manager that you are using your time appropriately.
Responding to emails quickly shows that you are at your desk, focused on work, and attuned to respond to any tasks or requests that come your way in a timely manner.
Bonus Tip: Let Your Manager Know When You Have Completed a Task
Managers are not mind-readers and they have a lot of priorities to juggle. Therefore, if your manager has assigned you a task, always drop them a quick email to let them know when it’s done.
For example, you might email and say, “I’ve finished pulling those reports you asked for. They’re saved in the usual folder.” If you don’t let them know, they may incorrectly assume you have missed a deadline or simply forget that they assigned you the task at all.
In some instances, your manager will let you know that you don’t need to notify them about a completed task. This particularly applies to things you do regularly. But until you’re asked to do otherwise, notifying them when assigned tasks are completed is polite and potentially very useful.
Activity: Clean Up Your Inbox
Missing an email from your manager (or even from a colleague or client) can be annoying at best and can cause serious workflow problems at worst. Therefore, it is vital that you operate a clean and tidy inbox where you can prioritise effectively and see new emails as soon as they come in.
Next time you have a spare half hour, use it to tidy up your inbox. We recommend never deleting work emails unless you absolutely have to, because you never know when you might need to refer back to something. Instead, create folders into which you can sort emails when they have been dealt with.
While we don’t necessarily advocate the “inbox zero” method, a tidy inbox is much easier to handle and minimises the risk of missing important messages.
