Timely communication frequently plays an important role with HR recruiters. Managing the constant flow of e-mail messages from both internal and external candidates responding to job openings can be overwhelming at times. By improving the process for organizing e-mail messages, recruiters can better manager their time and quickly respond to those messages, adding order to their work habits and helping to increase their productivity and success.

How do you manage your e-mail?

Through a study of Microsoft Outlook users, Microsoft found that most people do one of three things with nearly every e-mail message:

1. They respond to it immediately.
2. They delete or file it immediately.
3. Lacking the time or information required to take action right away, they decide to follow up on it later.

There are almost as many approaches to the third option as there are users: mark the message as unread, move it to a mail folder called To Do, make a task out of it, rigorously delete or file all messages that don't require a response — the list goes on. But all of these solutions are imperfect and take up a lot of extra time.

Outlook Quick Flags

Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 Quick Flags are designed to solve this problem. Activated by a single click, Quick Flags are very simple to use. Simply click the flag icon next to any e-mail message, in any folder in Outlook, to mark it with a Quick Flag and move on with other tasks you were working on, minimizing the disruption of managing e-mail. Each marked message gets a brightly colored flag next to it so that it is easy to find again.

More information

• About flagging for follow up
• Flag a message or contact as completed
• Add or remove a flag
• Change the date or time on a flag
• Change the message flag color