In this final post in the series, I’m going to walk through a few more advanced tips for managing your mail and reducing headaches that come with a constant inflow of messages.

Exploring Email Account Options

Today let’s dig deeper by discussing a few more advanced tips, beginning with exploring the email account options on your device. You likely walked through the mail setup process when you first got ahold of your device, but let’s take a look at some of the more in-depth features that can make your communication even more of a breeze. On your BlackBerry® 7 or BlackBerry 6 smartphone, hit the “Setup” icon, or just type it into universal search to find it. You’ll see a screen like this:

When you head into “Email Accounts”, you’ll see two options: one for “Internet Mail Account” and the other for “Enterprise Account”. If you have an enterprise account setup, it’s likely managed by your IT department and requests for modification would likely need to go through them. In the event that you do not see the “Enterprise Account” option, please contact your wireless service for assistance.

Let’s look at the Internet mail account area – head in and then click on the account that you have set up (or set up a new one first!). There are a few things of note here that can help you out with email management:

1. General Options

Make sure that you have the “Your name” section filled out – this will display on recipient devices when you send a message. Additionally, you can modify your signature in this area. Opinions on this are mixed – some like to hide the fact that they’re using a mobile device, others like to include a “Sent from my BlackBerry smartphone” to make others aware when they’re on the road.

2. Delivery Options

Fun stuff in here – you can choose a “reply to” email address if you don’t want anything coming back to this particular account. This is useful if you’re changing email addresses; apply this setting to the old account to force everyone to slowly move over, even during a back-and-forth email conversation. Second is “Auto BCC”, which can send a copy over to an address of your choosing.

3. Synchronization Options

Depending on what features are supported by your mail provider, this area looks simple enough with the checkboxes for Calendar, Contacts, and Deleted Items, but they have big implications. Mail is synchronized by default, since after all, we are dealing with an email account that’s been set up. Calendar is useful to toggle if you only use the calendar of one email account – you can turn the others off so that they aren’t synchronized with your BlackBerry device. However, color-coding different calendars can help with that! Contacts and Deleted Items follow suit, allowing you to selectively synchronize specific components of your mail account.

The above options can help you to manually configure your mail accounts to the perfect settings that complement your style. You may have 3, 4, or even 10 email accounts, but use them in different ways and require unique components to be activated or deactivated on your BlackBerry smartphones. The email account options help you to get there.

The Unsubscribe Sweep

This was mentioned in passing within the last post in the series, but it deserves to be called out more clearly. We’re constantly interacting with digital services; signing up for new accounts, booking a hotel, or buying something online. Often during these travels we inadvertently get our email addresses thrown onto lists for “special offers” and the like. Unsubscribing from these can be arguably the single easiest thing you can do to lighten the email load on your inbox, with the biggest impact.

When I woke up this morning and checked my email, I had twelve messages that I had received during the night. Only three of them legitimately needed my attention, the others were from newsletters, notifications from social networks, and spam messages. I didn’t unsubscribe from them at that moment because it was 6:30 in the morning. No, I took the lazy route and did the “mark all as read” trick. It’s true; we don’t always have the time to do the unsubscribe sweep right then and there, so that’s why I’ve scheduled a recurring reminder in my calendar to give me a bump once a month to clean it all out at some point during that day. The results are fantastic: a huge reduction in the number of emails that I receive.

Tip: If you have social networking apps like Twitter® or Facebook® installed on your BlackBerry smartphone, then you likely don’t need the email notifications from these services – the apps will provide you with their own notifications when activity takes place. To learn more about setting up notifications for these apps, press the Menu key and select the Help option when using them.

Set Custom Notifications for Different Email Accounts

This is a great trick that is very under-utilized, in my opinion. We’ve got fantastic sound profile options with our BlackBerry smartphones with everything from Loud to Vibrate to Phone Calls Only. But, did you know that you can set up custom sounds for different email accounts? This is fantastic for those who have work accounts and personal accounts on the same device. When you’re at work, you can safely postpone personal emails without even looking at your device. Similarly, when you’re at home or spending time with family, you can leave those work emails until the morning.

To set up custom notifications for different email accounts, click on the little speaker at the top left of your home screen and then hit the button that reads “Change Sounds and Alerts”. This is where the magic happens: you can set up ring tones, modify sound profiles, remove profiles, and even set specific sounds for certain contacts. If you’re already using the sound profile that you want to modify for email account notifications, hit “Sounds for Selected Profile”. Otherwise, you can head into “Profile Management” and choose the profile that you want to modify.

You should see a screen that looks something like this (I’ve scrolled down to “Messages – Notifiers”):

If you choose one of these options, you’ll be able to set the notification tone, the volume, vibration, toggle notifications during calls, and toggle the LED light. With third party apps like BeBuzz Free – LED Light Colors you can even set a custom color (There are lots to choose from! I tried purple). Once you’ve got it where you want it, hit the “Try it” button to test it out, and feel free to tweak your settings until you’re comfortable. Beyond setting custom notifications for email accounts, try setting one for your boss, or your boss’s boss! This is an advanced warning system of sorts that gives you a heads up on what has just come in, before you even pick up your smartphone.

To learn more, head over to the BlackBerry Help Blog to discover how to set up ringtones, notifications, and alerts.

In Summary

Investigating your email account options in the Setup application is worth the time to make sure that you’re synchronizing properly and have all of your details in place – with certain tools especially useful if you’ve recently changing email accounts. Schedule reminders for an unsubscribe sweep to take a load off of your inbox with just a few minutes of effort. Lastly, setup custom notifications to give you advance warning of what’s hitting your inbox, and from whom. With these tips applied, along with those from Part 1 and Part 2 of the series, you’ll be blasting through your inbox with minimal headaches and saving time each day.

Have any more tips for mobile email management that weren’t covered in the series? Share in the comments below!

Most of us are using email the wrong way. And a lot of the time, we shouldn’t even be using email in the first place to get our message across. In my last blog post on owning your inbox, I walked through the emerging modes of communication that can be more appropriate than email and cause less stress, such as instant messaging, BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™), third-party apps, or even simply using the phone. Reducing email pile-up by using one of the many alternative methods of communication is a great step towards using technology effectively. The results are reduced stress, increased speed of communication and response, a more organized approach, and a lighter load on the mail servers.

This time, I’m going to focus on email itself. Let’s face it: Email is inescapable even if we do use other modes of communication. What’s important is using it effectively to handle what’s being thrown at you. Judging by a recent Twitter® poll from @BlackBerry4Biz, some of you deal with a lot of email in a day. Let’s look at ways that you can manage it more effectively using your BlackBerry® smartphone.

Use accurate subjects to utilize and improve search

An email with the subject “Hey” or “Question…” is useful for about as long as it takes for you or the recipient to read it. It ends there, and often becomes another item to scroll past in your seemingly never-ending list of emails sitting in your inbox. But if you use accurate and descriptive subject lines for your email, your inbox becomes beautifully searchable. Some even have their own system for categorizing emails within the subject line.

For example, instead of sending an email with a subject of “expenses”, I could use “BlackBerry World 2012 Expense Report”. Later on, if I need to gather together all of my activity around BlackBerry World™, I can search for the term “BlackBerry World 2012”, or if I’m looking for expense reports, all I need to do is search for “expense report”. If I’ve been consistent in my title conventions, all of my past event activity is accessible. Using a date in some form is also a key tip here.

To search for an email in the inbox of your BlackBerry smartphone, just press the “S” key from the inbox as a shortcut for bringing up the search box. I use this constantly.

Organize your mail into conversations

I know this one isn’t for everyone, and I’ve even changed my mind a few times on this one, but it’s without question worth a try. Similar to recent versions of Microsoft® Outlook® or Google® Gmail, your BlackBerry smartphone can organize mail into conversations based on a thread with the same subject line. If you look away for a few minutes and suddenly there are eight replies that have come in, it only takes up one line on your screen. This setting alone can significantly reduce the amount of scrolling and picking through email that you may undertake on any given day.

To activate or toggle this feature, open up the Messages application on your BlackBerry smartphone, hit the menu key, find “Options”, choose “Message Display and Actions”, and then change “Display Style” from “Single Messages” to “Group by Subject”. Like I said, opinions vary, so figure out which one is best for you.

Use follow-up flags and task synchronization

There are many instances when I don’t have time to read each email and follow through with any action, but I can skim them and understand what will need action at a later point. This is where “flagging for follow up” comes in, and it’s arguably my favorite feature of the BlackBerry device inbox. On your BlackBerry smartphone, head into your inbox, highlight or open a message, hit the menu key, and choose “Flag for Follow Up”. A small red flag is displayed on the message, and if you’re set up with a corporate email account and use Microsoft Outlook like I do, the message will also appear in your “Flagged for Follow Up” area and in the Outlook tasks section. The next morning or whenever I have a chance, I can review the emails that need my attention.

Use a folder or filing system

Mail folders can be used to sort your messages either manually or with rules set up in your mail client. A common system is to have folders labeled as Action, Hold, and Archive. If you’re really on the ball with a system like this, you can keep your inbox completely clean. Mail folders can also be accessed from your BlackBerry smartphone or BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet. On your smartphone, head into the Messages app, hit the menu key, and choose “View Folder”. Here you can expand or collapse folders as well as perform searches. BlackBerry Messenger folders for BBM groups are also visible here, as well as text messages, call logs, social accounts, and more. It’s a great place to have a handle on for accessing logs, messages, and attachments from all of your communication.

The “two-minute rule”

I learned of this rule while doing some research for this post, and it’s a great one that I’m going to start following. The rule basically states that if you can complete an action associated with an email in two minutes or less, you should do it right then and there. Otherwise, if you flag it and do it later, you’ve spent more time already on that task than you should have. This is a key concept for dealing with email – if you can get an action item off of your list immediately, take care of it and move on. Learn more about the two-minute rule in a Q&A with David Allen on success.com.

Control the flow of email into your inbox

Yes, it is possible. When you see unimportant email come in, such as certain newsletters or even spam, take a few moments to find that unsubscribe link and get yourself off of the list. And instead of replying to an email by instinct, try using other methods like picking up the phone and giving someone a ring – the reality is that when you respond to email, you’re more than likely to get a response back.

Hopefully this helps you get a handle on that raging inbox. What tips have I missed? Share in the comments below.

We’re buried in email — it’s the simple truth. Many organizations and individuals default to email as the primary mode of communication, and it’s seen as the “work” channel. You might use text messages, instant messaging, and social media in your personal life, but “work email” is a familiar phrase and is used to describe how we get things done in the office. But technology has moved far beyond this, and what we should be doing is efficiently utilizing the appropriate modes of communication within our professional lives to reach the desired outcome with the lowest amount of effort, server load, and time. Utilizing your organization’s investment in mobility and collaboration technology can go a long way to solving this issue.

If I’m not watching my inbox like a hawk, I don’t feel like I’m working. If I leave my inbox unsupervised for even a short amount of time during the day, I feel like I’m neglecting my responsibilities. The other day I heard it referred to as “watching your inbox closer than you watch your kids”, and it hit home. The amount of time that we waste (yes, waste) checking, sending, and receiving email is astronomical. This doesn’t just strain your personal efficiency; it can also have implications on your company’s mail servers, particularly if you’re a heavy user of large attachments such as presentations.

Speaking of using attachments, this is a particular aspect of the issue that I see time and time again – individuals and teams mistakenly using email as a tool for workflow: reviewing, approving, and firing attachments of different document versions all over the place. This is not what it was meant to be! There are a ton of fantastic alternatives for managing communications and workflow. Let’s take a look at a few scenarios and solutions that can help to break apart how we communicate so that we can engage effectively.

Use the phone

Particularly with younger generations (of which I am a part), this is often not the go-to method of communication even concerning quick questions. Sending it in an email gives you the feeling that you can strike it off of your to-do list. But really, you can’t – not until you get an answer. All it does is add to the clutter and open up the potential for it to get lost either on your plate or on the plate of the individual you’re reaching out to. Mind you, hitting someone’s voicemail isn’t always the best thing either – and that’s why I love BlackBerry® Mobile Voice System for allowing me to be reached at a single number whether I’m using my desk phone or BlackBerry smartphone.

Enterprise instant messaging

I’ve come to love this over the past few months. Many organizations have enterprise instant messaging implemented internally, and even better, hooked into an employee directory. Even if I’ve never met or spoken with an individual before, I’ll often shoot over a quick IM if it’s something that can be resolved with a “yes”, “no”, or simple response. This way, even if they’re on a call, they can often multitask to give me what I need quickly, without leaving a trail of messages all over the place. These solutions often include file sharing or again, in the case of BlackBerry Unified Communications and Collaboration (UCC) solutions, you can one-click to start a call from an instant messaging conversation. Better yet, you can take your internal IM solution mobile on your BlackBerry smartphone by utilizing these solutions. Quick questions and quick answers follow me wherever I go, without causing pile-up in my inbox.

Centralize document storage and management

Instead of emailing documents as attachments, loading down mail servers, and running the risk of confusing versions, it’s important to centralize document storage and management. Does your organization have a solution for this? Is it mobile-friendly, and feature-rich? Microsoft® SharePoint® is an example of one that fits the bill for many companies. With the BlackBerry Client for Microsoft SharePoint, you’re able to download documents, open and edit them with Documents To Go®, and send them back up into SharePoint with full version control. The BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet browser is also a fantastic vehicle for accessing internal web apps, whether connected via Wi-Fi® or through BlackBerry® Bridge™ on your smartphone for true mobility.

BlackBerry Messenger for business

BlackBerry® Messenger (BBM™) isn’t just for organizing weekend BBQs with friends; it’s also a fantastic tool for mobile communication on work topics. Organizing colleagues and teams into BBM groups can help keep things clean in your contact list, and you can even send files and voice notes up to 6MB. If you don’t have access to mobile enterprise instant messaging, this is a great way to get in touch with your coworkers quickly and efficiently. Knowing when someone has received and read your message allows you to operate and communicate confidently on this platform. We use it constantly here at RIM® (I’d hope so!) and I’ve certainly felt the benefits of having quick and simplified access to everyone on my team.

Third party apps

There are a ton of collaboration and communication apps available in the BlackBerry App World™ storefront, including cross-platform apps. Figure out what works best for your particular style of work, and based on the pain points in your current communication structure, and go wild trying some of these out. Cloud storage solutions are great examples of available apps that can help make your life easier at work, especially for small businesses.

Bonus: Easy scheduling across organizations, and one-click conference calls

Worth mentioning in this type of post are Tungle.me and BlackBerry Mobile Conferencing. Tungle allows you to share your availability, and view the basic availability of others, regardless of what platform you’re using and whether or not you’re in the same organization. This is great for sales teams in particular who are working to set up appointments with external contacts. With BlackBerry Mobile Conferencing, you can save multiple conference profiles on your BlackBerry smartphone and never worry about adding in your conference details to an invite, or having to input them by hand when you’re an attendee. Just hit “Join Now” and you’re off!

The point is that there are so many more modes of communication available outside of email. Email should be used effectively and certainly holds a foundational purpose in our collaboration, but the myriad of available apps, instant messaging solutions, document management, and workflow tools shouldn’t be ignored. I’m willing to bet that you could shave off hours from your workweek by engaging in thoughtful and efficient communication in your workplace.

To find out more about BlackBerry communication and collaboration solutions, head over to www.blackberry.com/collaboration. Specifically, take a peek at the BlackBerry Client for Microsoft SharePoint, BlackBerry Mobile Voice System, and BlackBerry Mobile Conferencing.

How do you manage workflows and collaboration while on the go? What are your favorite tools, apps, or solutions? Share in the comments below.