Escape From Email Hell – Chapter 8 [Tech Rest]

One Friday, a little over a year after his first visit from the Email Angel, Ed gets a message from his boss: “Come see me right away”. It scared Ed but he went to see her anyway.

Ed, the company has noticed your increase in productivity and we’ve decided to offer you a promotion. Now, before you make a decision, I want to tell you a little more about it. About 50% of the time you would be traveling to other locations. Oh course, we would give you a laptop and a corporate credit card. If you accept the position, you would be given an immediate 15% pay increase. Also, you would be eligible for quarterly performance bonuses.

Are you interested?

I don’t have to think about this: yes I would like the job.

Great, I’ll finish the paperwork, and you can start the new job on Monday. I know you’ve documented your current position and that Doug is cross-trained for your duties as well. From time to time he may have questions but he has already agreed to accept your old job.

That night, Ed was heading to the parking deck. He was so excited he was whistling! He rounded the corner and saw his car and . . . there was someone in it. It was the Email Angel.

Hi Ed, congratulations on your new job.

Thanks, I wouldn’t have gotten it without you. In fact, I might have been fired.

Ed, you, unlike others I have talked to, have done what I’ve suggested.

Thanks.

I have another suggestion for you: ask your boss on Monday to let you put your personal emails on your laptop.

Okay, I’ll do it.

And with that the Email Angel vanished.

So on Monday Ed asked his boss about having his personal emails on his work laptop and she said yes. On the other hand, she also said that any problems caused by spyware and viruses coming from his personal emails would be his responsibility.

At lunch, Ed was thinking about how bad it could be if he got a virus from his email and it spread to the rest of the company. He was starting to reconsider the Angel’s advice when he noticed a memo on his desk. It was from the Email Angel. Now, that was a new one.

By now, you’ve talked to your boss and she has said yes. Also, she has told you that any problems caused by your personal email would be your responsibility. Here is how we are going to handle that.

1. Use a hosted Exchange Mail Box to consolidate your work and home email. Ask George, your friend from church about this. He is already using a good service. With this service all your email will be pulled into one mailbox that you can get to from anywhere you have an internet connection.
   
2. Use a service to filter out all your SPAM. Having a person filter out your SPAM not only saves you time but it also lessens the chance of Spyware infection.
   

Both of these services will cost you some money but you can afford it with your new raise.

Well, it took Ed a little time and a little money to get it all set up but it was worth it. Now, he didn’t get any SPAM and all his messages ended up in the same place. It worked great.

For other chapters in the book click, The Book .

Original post here: Craig Huggart

9 October 2007 | Craig Huggart, Email, Escape From Email Hell, GTD, Getting Things Done | Comments