In 2021, Laura Giurge and Vanessa Bohns published a study in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Process which confirmed what many of us have suspected for a long time but have been afraid to act on. The title of their article was You Don’t Need to Respond Right Away! Receivers Overestimate How Quickly Senders Respond to Non-urgent Work Emails. Perhaps you’re one of them.
I have seen studies estimating that it takes anywhere from five to fifteen minutes to regain our concentration every time we’re distracted. A good portion of these distractions are the result of incoming emails, especially the ones from the boss. Unfortunately, most bosses don’t have a system for indicating the urgency of what they send. If they did, chances are a lot of them wouldn’t use it anyway. As the study from Laura and Vanessa point out, most people suffer from email urgency bias. As a result, non-urgent questions take many people away from their primary focus they minute they are delivered.
So, what to do? The solution comes in two parts – one for you and one for the boss. First, the boss. In their book, The Friction Project, authors Robert Sutton and Huggy Rao observe that “Bosses often don’t realize how closely underlings monitor their every word and deed – and are oblivious of the gyrations that subordinates go through to protect themselves from and please those at the top of the pecking order.” I would argue that this begins with email. Over the years, I have learned that my off-hand comments can be taken so literally that I have go back and say, “I was joking” or “I didn’t mean that you needed to drop everything and go out and buy me a blueberry muffin.” (That actually happened.) If you riff in an email, you may find that those receiving it take it seriously.
I have found it best to give those working for me a simple explanation of my priorities. Nothing complicated, but enough detail to help them understand how to distinguish between urgent and something that can wait until the important stuff is done. You can develop your own system.
The key here is that I take the extra 15 seconds to indicate the priority or urgency of a particular email. If I don’t, then the people who report to me are free to assume that the request can be completed as time allows. This also provides them with evidence if I start harping on something about which I did not indicate any urgency in the first place. Have I changed my mind due to circumstances? On occasion. But then I communicate the change in priority and help them fit the task into what they are already doing.
But what if it’s you who’s increasingly drained by the endless emails that land in your mailbox? Is it acceptable for you to question, or even challenge, tasks that appear with little warning and without any indication of their priority? Yes. Let’s be honest, bosses forget what they have requested or delegated at times. But just as much as that person is your boss, you’re the contributor who is actually doing the work to support him or her. We’re all fallible. But if you don’t say something, do you have a right to grouse about the workload, supervision or leadership?
I find that many times, people can’t find the words to open the conversation about the assignments sent via email. So allow me to suggest a few ways to approach these situations. These approaches should be typically done in person. Sending an email asking your boss for clarification can appear confrontive.
First, I am having difficulty understanding . . . as in “I am having difficulty understanding how you want me to fit this task into the other stuff you have me doing.”
Second, I am a bit confused . . . as in “I am a bit confused by the email you sent. Should I make that task my priority?”
Third, am I understanding that . . . as in “Am I understanding that you want me to complete this project before the others you’ve got me working on?”
All three of these phrases are designed to elicit help. In other words, you’re looking for clarification before proceeding.
Pass these phrases along to the people who work for you. Suggest they use them when you’re sending emails and delegating tasks without indicating priority or urgency. We all do it at times. This won’t clear up email urgency bias over night, but it sure will help.