You've Got Mail - Leveraging Electronic Communication to Manage Information Overload, Improve Compliance and Get Your Points Across

Email is an integral part of any professional organization. When used well, emails can be a powerful tool for data organization, communication, and time management. Chief residents receive and send multiple emails daily. Emails can be used as a means of communication with program leadership, hospital administration and residents, to document and keep track of events and encounters, and as a tool for coordination of teaching engagement, among other uses.

The biggest challenge of electronic communication is information overload. Tools provided in this workshop will help the participants to write emails that their recipients will want to read and prioritize when skimming through their inbox. Those tools will guide the users to write emails that are clear, easy to read and provide all the relevant information in an accessible way. Participants will break into small groups to review sample emails and discuss methods by which their readability and structure contributes to their impact or lack thereofto lay the foundation for looking at electronic communication objectively.

Structured guidance for meaningful and efficient use of electronic communication is lacking in most training programs. We will utilize and practice a standardized approach to email creation as well as demonstrate tangible strategies for optimizing email organization, storage, and retrieval.