How can I reduce the amount of e-mail that I receive at work? It is not my job to answer these but because I have been helpful in the past and I seem the be the one that knows all the answers around here, when in doubt people e-mail me.

If you find people are sending you e-mail for answers to questions that aren't really your main job focus, even if you know the answer, provide a very short reply: (make it a statement, do not end with a question).

direct them to a resource (book , web page other person so that they become less dependant on you for answers).

 This is particularly useful for dealing with people who would rather take the easy way out by asking you rather than doing the legwork themselves. (procrastination also works in this type of situation).  

Are there some guide lines to instruct people on how to send e-mail to the correct parties?

As a general rule:

• do not send e-mail to people you would not ordinarily call on the phone ;

• only send jokes etc. to those who you have an agreement with ;

• publish general interest items on a web page, newsletter, or using collaborative tools such as Lotus notes, Microsoft exchange public folders, Novell GroupWise, web pages etc.

• There is no need to share absolutely every thought or idea you have, only the important ones and only with those who are truly interested;

• save up bits of info to share at the next meeting or conference call rather than provide it in a continuous stream of trivial items.

I am frequently cc'd. These e-mails are often just annoyances but once in a while I do need to read them. How do I deal with these items?

Organizations need to establish a corporate culture that answers the question of who needs to be copied and when.

Why not create an in-box rule that automatically moves cc'd items to a folder where you can look fro them if you ever need them? In this way you can safely ignore them but keep them for reference in case you are asked to refer to them at some time. 

It would also be a good idea to have an agreement with your boss so that any "action" items are sent directly to you and not cc'd.

My in-box fills up with so many reports, advisories and project updates that I can barely find the messages that I consider important. Is there a better way to distribute this information?

One useful method is to keep project status reports in some visible location that anyone who is interested can go to when they need to see an update. Keep in mind that not everyone works the same way though, so why not offer a second option in the form of a distribution list that e-mails these reports just to those who are interested? You can provide a very flexible solution that allows people to add and remove themselves from the list as needed.

If you are on the receiving end, create a rule to automatically move these items out of your in-box and into a folder so that you can read them later, or simply delete them. 

If your co-workers can agree on common subject headings, this will make it easier for everyone to sort their messages and sort action items from information items. FYI, Action, projectX-?? are all good ways of beginning a subject line.

Inbox overload survival