November '03 - Dealing with Information Overload

We Are BCNM

Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management

TechNotes eNewsletter
November 2003

If you're on the verge of "information asphyxiation," don't run and hide, take charge! This month's issue focuses on what information overload is doing to us and how we can combat it.

Because the Bayer Center wants to help you (rather than overwhelm you), we're hoping you'll take a few minutes of your time and tell us what you need to see in upcoming TechNotes issues. And hey, why not register to win for a free class while you're at it! We might have just the thing in the Spring for all you stressed-out, overworked nonprofit people!

In This Issue:

Tip of the Month: Managing E-mail
Win a Free Class!
Technology for Leaders: Calculating the Cost of Spam
Site of the Month
Food for Thought

Tip of the Month: Managing E-mail
Learning to manage the sheer volume of email we all get every day takes a combination of technology tricks, time management techniques, and pure discipline. Here are a few ways you can combine these skills to make your life easier. Really!

Use folders and rules to help you automatically sort your messages by moving incoming messages to folders. You can base your rules on who it¿s from (your Executive or Board Chair) or the subject matter (TechNotes or other lists). That way you¿re already ahead of the battle when you open your in-box.
Limit the number of lists to which you subscribe. How much information do you really have time to absorb anyway?
Take action immediately: Either delete, reply, forward, flag for follow-up or file the message after reading it once. Then you can focus on the messages that are really important.
Don¿t print out email. If it¿s pertinent to a project, then save the email or the attachments to a project folder.
Regularly schedule time to clean out email files. If you haven¿t looked at an email in a month, chances are you won¿t ever look at it again. If you don't schedule time, it won't happen. Need we say more?
Don¿t use email to have a back and forth discussion. Why waste time typing multiple questions and responses if it¿s something that can be accomplished in a single phone call?

If these tips were helpful or if you¿d like to learn more, we¿ll be offering a new class in the Spring called Tech and Time Management. You¿ll learn more hands-on ways to solve your information dilemmas. Keep your eyes out for our Spring calendar!

Tell Us What You Think and Win a Free Class
Help us make TechNotes a resource you¿ll use rather than auto-file to the trash. Take our short survey and register for a drawing for a free technology class from the Bayer Center!

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=48086327588

Technology for Leaders: Calculating the Cost of Spam
If you¿re bothered by the increasing amount of junk email you get, think about what it¿s doing to the productivity of your organization. Time spent dealing with all these extraneous messages is time spent away from client services and costing you more in increased bandwidth and storage space. If you¿d like to get a handle on your actual costs, you might want to read a pair of articles that includes a calculation tool from Network World.

http://www.nwfusion.com/columnists/2003/0630backspin.html?docid=8535

Site of the Month: Planet 501(c)3 from CompassPoint
If you haven¿t met the folks from CompassPoint yet, you may find their quirky takes on nonprofits and technology enjoyable. They have lots of good information, too, but since this has been such a serious newsletter we thought you might enjoy this Planet 501(c)3 comic - Tips for Managing Email.

http://www4.compasspoint.org/p.asp?WebPage_ID=342&Profile_ID=110081

Food for Thought
We have for the first time an economy based on a key resource [Information] that is not only renewable, but self-generating. Running out of it is not a problem, but drowning in it is.

-- John Naisbitt

To learn more about the Technology Initiative at the Bayer Center, visit us at http://www.rmu.edu/bcnm or give us a call at 412-227-6814.

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