Although there are many methodologies that a leader can practice to manage their own EMAIL effectively, a consistent and thoughtful process is the most effective way to organize and respond to emails and is a step of stewardship for the effective leader.

I've worked with CEOs for two decades, and almost every CEO deals with a large volume of emails and struggles with how to manage them effectively. In a survey I conducted of over 1,000 CEOs and business owners, 93% stated that they struggle with email management. Through my experience as the founder of The CEO Experience and having worked with CEOs of businesses large and small, I have found that effective email management can mean good overall management.

In today's world, email is a critical tool for leaders communicate effectively. Unfortunately, many leaders either neglect them email correspondence or lack an efficient method of managing their inbox.

Related: 6 Ways to Manage Your Email List Like a Pro

1. Divide your emails into your company's business year

In business, starts and stops are essential to success. Many things in business break down into an annual structure. Business finances are often broken down into a business year. A big mistake many CEOs make regarding their emails is never sharing them in a business year. They continue to allow their emails to be created year after year. When you divide your emails into each calendar year, leads can have a start and stop in their email inbox. Each new calendar year will bring your emails to zero.

For example, if your business calendar year ends in September, you should archive last year's emails and create a new master folder for the new business year. Effective email management begins with understanding the start and stop points of your email information.

2. Create folders for your main subjects

An important step to effective email management is organizing your emails into folders. Folders allow the leader to categorize key areas of focus that the leader may need to deal with on an ongoing basis. Folders should be created for key topics and key people in the organization. The better a leader can identify their folders, the better the leader will be able to manage their email.

3. CEOS need files in these nine key business areas

Every business, regardless of its size, deals with issues related to strategy and vision: accounting and finance, sales and marketing, human resources, operations, customers, personal leadership and affairs, kingdom impact and team development and culture. When a leader knows where to send their emails, emails become easier to manage. Many emails sit in the inbox because the manager has nowhere to file the email.

4. Create sub-folders under your main folders for easy landing capability

Once your main folders are created, the task of creating subfolders should be created to better organize your emails. For example, you may want to create a subfolder for each employee in your company under the human resources folder. These will allow you to keep critical employee information that would be easy to search and find. Subfolders are essential to good email management.

Only emails that are useful for future review or record keeping should be retained. Remember that your sent folder is also a document folder for information that can be requested when needed.

An example I use is to copy or blind copy myself in an email sent for registration purposes.

5. Create email templates for emails you know you'll use often

Big head is sustainable leadership. When leaders perform tasks repeatedly, they will find success when the task is done well. There is a lot of repetition in email correspondence. The CEO who will use the emails they write as a template because subsequent emails can save yourself hours of work and practice good stewardship.

6. Use flags or develop a way to identify critical email follow-up

One way to quickly sort through emails in your inbox is to mark them for future follow-up. You can color code emails using flags or send an email with a reminder to work on the email later.

In my experience managing bulk emails, I address each email in one of four ways: junk emails, which can be deleted; FYI or understood emails, which should be read and then deleted; E-mails that need action, but at a later time; and urgent and timely emails that need immediate action.

The third category (u-turn) of emails are those that need action and will often be forgotten if not reported for a later date.

Related: 4 tips to better manage your email inbox

7. Challenge yourself to act on every email every day

Being aggressive about email management will reduce stress and make the leader more productive productive. Calendaring times during the day to read emails can be helpful. For example, a manager might schedule 15 minutes at 9, 11, 2, and 5 to check email and respond appropriately. The more consistent habits and behaviors you establish as a leader, the more productive you will become.

A senior government executive I worked with effectively managed her email inbox to zero during her two decades in government. She states, “Effective email management will reduce stress, improve performance, and help the leader gain credibility in every area of ​​their leadership.”

Although effective email management may not be the only key to business success and good governance, it is an essential part of the process in which many executives spend their time and effort.

Email is a component of every job and task in today's workforce. Managing emails and responding promptly can make the difference between business success and failure. When executives understand how to effectively use email as a tool instead of seeing it as a burden, they will move from simply answering emails to using it as one of the core technical aspects of the business they work in. .