Best practices for Outlook for Mac 2011

Outlook for Mac 2011 is a tool to help you manage your email messages, calendar, contacts, and tasks. As such, it is at the center of not only your communications but also your time-management. To get the most out of Outlook for Mac 2011, we suggest a few basic principles:

Even if you don't use all of the best practices described here, following only a few will improve your experience with Outlook for Mac 2011.

The first step in following these best practices is to set up a system to optimize how you use Outlook for Mac 2011. It is considered best practice to have:

For details on how to set up the recommended layout, see the FAQ section at the end of this paper.

It is considered best practice to have:

Smart Folders 

Smart Folders, also known as search folders, are useful for gathering information from across different mail folders. Smart Folders can be especially useful when you need to gather information that is saved in different folders — for example, when preparing for a quarterly meeting.

If you receive a large volume of messages (more than 200 messages a day), search folders might be a good way for you to parse mail from different senders.

For details on how to set up Smart Folders, see the FAQ section at the end of this paper.

The goal of organizing your Outlook is to reduce the amount of unnecessary "noise" in your Inbox and to make the most important items bubble to the top. Rules help this process by moving messages into folders based on criteria that you set. Rules filter the messages coming into your Inbox for must-read items only.

It is considered best practice to have the following rules (details on how to set up these rules are in the FAQ at the end of this paper):

If you receive a lot of messages or are easily distracted by the notification sound that plays for incoming messages, we recommend turning off the following options:

To change these settings, on the Outlook menu, click Preferences, and then click Notifications & Sounds. Under Message arrival, clear all of the check boxes.

Categories in Outlook for Mac 2011 allow you to manage items in many different ways. There are three main types of categories that we recommend creating:

Categories are not a required aspect of this system, but they will make your life easier if you are diligent about using them. For example, they can help you more easily identify what you can do now and help you group similar tasks so that you can do them all at once.

To create categories, do the following:

It is considered best practice to have a category for:

As you will see, categories help make searching more efficient, and help you get ready for meetings.

Note  Be very careful about categorizing your outgoing messages — your recipients might be able to see your categories. If your recipients are not using Outlook for Mac 2011 or Exchange Server 2010, they will be able to see the categories you set.

Once you set up your system, you are ready to begin managing incoming messages. By making your Inbox the central place for receiving important messages, you can go through it with the confidence that each item is something you need to deal with.

For every message in your Inbox:

If you need it as reference (even if you have decided to defer it), move it into your reference folder. The goal is to reduce the number of times you touch each message.

Delete it 

Delete messages that you don't need to read. If it is junk, delete it.

Do it: The 2-minute drill 

It is amazing what can be done in two minutes. For example, many messages can be responded to in 2 minutes or less. But if a message takes longer than two minutes to deal with, defer it. To get a sense of what two minutes feels like, try timing yourself.

After you have dealt with the message, do one of the following:

Delegate it 

Sometimes you receive a message that is really meant for someone else to deal with. In these cases, reply and include the person to whom you are delegating the message on the To line.

If you want to follow up later, flag it for yourself before sending. Mark the task with the @Waiting category.

Defer it 

WHEN TO DEFER A MESSAGE

Deferring a message means that you will review it later, when you have time, and the reasons to defer a message are:

HOW TO DEFER A MESSAGE: FLAG IT

When you decide that you don't have time to deal with a message right away, you can flag it:

By flagging it and filing it into your reference folder, you have processed it, and now you can move it out of your view. But because it is in your task list, you can move on to your next message, knowing that you will return to your flagged items later.

IF YOU WANT TO CATEGORIZE YOUR FLAGGED ITEMS

You can add a category to help you see at a glance where your next action is. A quick glance at your tasks that are categorized lets you know what is immediately actionable (@Office), which tasks you are waiting on other people for (@Waiting), and what you will be meeting about (@Meeting).

WHEN DO YOU DEAL WITH THE TASKS YOU HAVE DEFERRED?

After you process your messages, you can tackle your task list. This is when you respond to those messages that you have deferred.

JUST FILE IT

Sometimes you receive a message that you don’t need to act upon, but which you might need at a future date. A good example is a message with instructions. File these messages in your reference folder (1-Reference). Adding a category will make the message easier to find later if you need it (for example, @Project). Do this before filing.

After you finish processing your messages, you should have a clean Inbox and can switch your focus to your calendar and tasks.

It is considered best practice to set aside time every morning to manage your task list and your calendar. This includes:

Saying no  

As you review your calendar and your task list, be realistic about what you can accomplish. Sometimes that means saying no. Here are some ways to gain back time by saying no:

Calendar management 

The reality is that if you have a day filled with meetings, you have less time to complete tasks and write messages, so move tasks to other days.

If a task is going to take a long time or if it is something you must do (as opposed to tasks you decide you don’t need to do), block off time on your calendar.

Ways to create tasks 

As you go through your calendar and tasks, inevitably you will start thinking of more things you need to do. Here are some ways to create tasks in Outlook:

Ways to manage tasks

Here are ways you can help yourself deal with your tasks:

Although it is good to be organized, don’t spend a lot of time prioritizing and managing your task list. The process of managing your task list shouldn't take over your life!

Use your calendar: Create appointments for managing your time 

Remember: There is always more to do than time to do it.

As part of good time management, you need time to deal with your messages, manage your appointments and tasks, and reflect on what you have to do.

You can schedule this time for yourself with regular appointments and meetings on your calendar. Your calendar should be treated as your real plan for your time — if you have scheduled it, then that is what you are committed to doing at that time.

Set aside time to:

Weekly review 

Looking at the whole picture of your time and your tasks will help you to prioritize important work over less urgent tasks. It will help you to make it clear to others what can and cannot be realistically expected of you to accomplish. Reviewing your past week and upcoming week is also a useful way to help you prepare for a weekly meeting with your manager or help you prepare a status email message.

Where to do your work 

After you have processed your messages, the best place to do work in Outlook (reply to messages and so on) is in Tasks. By switching to Tasks, you won’t be distracted by messages arriving in your Inbox.

Bulk process your tasks 

As you go through your task list and your calendar, do similar tasks together. For example, if you have only a few minutes, make all of your phone calls (if you have just a few). Tackle energy-intensive tasks (for some, that might be responding to messages) when you have more energy. Deal with your low-energy tasks, such as reading status messages, later in the day or whenever your energy is lower. By "bulk processing" your tasks, you will make progress on all of your projects simultaneously.

One way to bulk process tasks is to change the arrangement from Start Date to Categories. To do this, click the Categories column heading.

Note  If you have tasks that are blocking other people from getting their work done, do those tasks first.

Finishing your tasks 

As you finish your tasks, mark them complete. Outlook for Mac 2011 keeps the list of your completed tasks automatically. This can be a useful summary of what you've accomplished. If you don't need to keep a record of the task or the message, delete it or clear the flag.

Working offline

If you have a lot of work to do, consider going offline to stem the tide of incoming message distractions.

When you switch between working online and offline, all email accounts within your Outlook profile are changed.

The Online Mode toggle on the Tools ribbon shows that you are working offline.

Click the Online Mode toggle to return to Online mode.

How to find a message from a particular person 

If you want to find a message from a particular person, click in your reference folder (for example, 1-Reference), click in the Search box, and then on the Search tab, click From.

Type the person’s name.

Note  You can also click in the Search box, type ryan, and then in the list, click from ryan.

How to find a message with an attachment 

To find a message with an attachment, click in the Search box, and then on the Search tab, click Attachment.

All search terms are additive, so if you want to find a message from someone with attachments, click on the commands on the ribbon (From, Attachment) to build your search.

To find messages across your whole mailbox 

Sometimes you can’t find a message by only searching in your reference folder alone — it could be a message that you sent or it could have been misfiled. In these cases, start by searching in any folder (Inbox, 1-Reference, etc.) and then click All Mail.

If you suspect that what you are looking for might be in an accepted meeting request (and therefore is on your calendar), try upscoping to All Items.

To stop searching 

Once you have found the item that you are looking for and are ready to move on to your next task, , on the Search tab, click Close.

The following rules will help you look professional and get your message across.

Basic rules of great messages: The dos 

Follow up: Flagging on send 

When you are sending a message to someone from whom you need a response, do the following:

Basic rules of great messages: The don'ts 

Advice for Contact Groups (also known as Distribution Lists) 

If you are responding to a large Contact Group, follow all of the message Do’s and Don'ts.

If you need more information or are investigating the issue separately, respond to the whole Contact Group to let everyone know that you are responding and then reply to the individual separately. Make sure to respond to the Contact Group after the issue is resolved with the resolution. In this way, the resolution can be referenced by other people on the Contact Group.

How to redirect people 

If someone sends a message to a Contact Group that you are a member of and the message would be better answered by someone else or another Contact Group, do the following:

How to be removed from a Contact Group 

If you receive mail from a Contact Group that you don’t want to be on, send a message to your network administrator or to the owner of the Contact Group and ask to be removed. Don’t reply to the whole Contact Group.

How to use inline comments  

Adding inline comments to a message that you receive is a convenient way to answer questions and respond directly to issues. It is considered a best practice to do the following:

If you only want to comment on a small part of a longer message, copy that section of your message into your response, using a different color and prefixing the quote with quotes, and then type your response.

When to use Bcc 

If you add a recipient's name to the blind carbon copy Bcc box in a message, a copy of the message is sent to the recipient, but the recipient's name is not visible to the other recipients of the message.

Use the Bcc feature to remove extra people from an email conversation when you deem that they no longer need the extra email or if the conversation topic has changed.

For example, if you are one of five people who receive a question and you want to answer it, move the other four people to the Bcc line and write something such as "Bcc'ing Joe, Jeff, James, and Jennifer. Here's the answer…" Future messages will then be between only you and the original sender.

Don’t use Bcc to let a third party (such as your manager) know about a sensitive message. The Bcc recipient might not realize that he or she has received a Bcc and might respond to everyone, exposing that he or she received a Bcc message. This might come across as sneaky behavior on your part.

Rather than using Bcc to inform a third party of an issue, forward the message after you send it.

When is it appropriate to call a meeting? 

Call a meeting when:

Whom to invite 

Only invite people who need to be involved. Each additional person you invite to a meeting adds to the complexity of the meeting, making it harder to control. On the other hand, if a decision needs to be made, make sure all of the key stakeholders are present, or the meeting will be a waste of time and resources.

How to choose a time to meet 

Choose a time when everyone can meet by looking at the invitees’ free/busy information in Calendar. Use Scheduling to view all meeting attendees availability.

The free/busy grid shows the availability of attendees. A green vertical line represents the start of the meeting. A red vertical line represents the end of the meeting.

To view Scheduling when composing a meeting request, do the following:

When to meet in person versus remotely 

Meet in person if:

Otherwise, meet by phone.

Tip  If you are traveling to the meeting location, schedule travel time on your calendar before and after the meeting.

How to handle related documents 

In preparing for a meeting, often there are documents to be shared before or during the meeting.

If all of the attendees are connected to your corporate network, put the documents on a SharePoint site or on a shared network drive.

Don’t send attachments in your meeting requests.

Preparing an agenda: Let tasks help 

During the meeting: How to collaborate 

The tool that you use to collaborate during a meeting depends on the location and access of your participants.

If you are collaborating on a document and everyone is in the same room, use the Track Changes and Comments features in Word.

If you are presenting and some people are remote, you can share your screen with other computer users with the Mac OS System Preferences called Sharing.

How to end a recurring meeting 

When a series of meetings has run its course, rather than cancel the meeting, which will remove all historical instances of the meeting, change the recurrence pattern to end on the last occurrence of the meeting. To do this, click the Recurrence button and change the end date.

When and how to share your calendar 

You might not need to share your calendar, because everyone in your organization can see when you are free or busy but not necessarily see the content or subject of the meetings and appointments. However, you can easily share your calendar with your team if you want them to be able to see all of your meetings and appointments.

You might want someone else to manage your calendar on your behalf, for example, an assistant who can accept or decline meetings for you. In that case, you can delegate your calendar. If you delegate your calendar, choose only one person: Don’t make everyone a delegate of your calendar. Having more than one delegate can cause errors in your calendar.

Note  Whether your calendar is shared depends on the version of Microsoft Exchange Server your system is running and how your administrator has configured the server.

When to use Outlook for Mac 2011 Contacts in a corporate environment 

Even if you work for a company with a Global Address list, there will be occasions when you want to keep a contact in Outlook for Mac 2011. Create contacts for:

When to create a Contact Group in Outlook for Mac 2011 

Create Contact Groups in Outlook for Mac 2011 when you want to make it easier to send messages to a group of people outside your corporation. For all groups inside your corporation, create a public Contact Group (ask your IT administrator about how to do this).

Why show the Reading Pane on the right and not the bottom (or off)? 

Reading a longer column of narrow text is easier than reading a shorter, wider section of text. This is because it is easier to move your eyes down than left to right over long distances, which can cause you to move your head and neck and lead to fatigue. It is better to have the Reading Pane on, so that you don't have to open each message to read its contents.

What to do with folders I don't need anymore? 

The Navigation Pane folder list should be reserved for folders you use often. If it's filled with folders you don't even recognize, move all mail into the reference folder and delete your existing folders.

When should I use conversation view? 

Conversation view is useful when:

By viewing your messages in conversation view, you can easily see which conversations have had the most back-and-forth discussion. In those cases, you might want to read and respond to only the last message in the conversation. You can also select an entire conversation and act on it. For example, there might be a lengthy series of messages where the last one simply states, "Thanks, that answers my question," so you can just delete the whole conversation.

You can also see messages from other folders when you are in conversation view, which is very helpful when you receive a new message on a lengthy conversation — you can see the whole history, including your replies.

Should I keep personal and business messages together? 

Reducing the number of places where you read messages doesn’t mean that you should mix your work and personal messages. A best practice is to use separate mail accounts for work and personal communications. You should, however, reduce the number of email addresses that you have to deal with. Fortunately, with Outlook for Mac 2011, you can view multiple accounts simultaneously. You can view your work messages (Exchange Server), your Windows Live Hotmail, and Google Gmail account, all while working in the same profile in Outlook for Mac 2011.

To make it easy to read messages from different accounts, Outlook for Mac 2011 has a unified inbox that groups similar folders, such as inboxes, from all of your accounts. This makes it easier to read all your messages at once, without having to move around between account folders. If you want, you can turn off this feature so that each account and all its folders are separated in the folder list.

We recommend you turn off the unified inbox.

How do read and unread states help me? 

Read and unread states in Outlook for Mac 2011 help by showing you quickly which messages have been read at least once and which have not. However, the read and unread states of messages can easily be triggered by clicking around your messages so they are not a perfect record — just a tool.

To quickly mark a message as read or unread, open the message and then on the Message tab, click the Read or Unread button. The button changes based on the current status of the message. If you want to see only the unread messages, on the Home tab, click the arrow next to Filters, and click Unread.

Why isn't read/unread state enough? 

Some people try to use the read and unread states to indicate whether a message is new or a reference item. But unread state is unreliable, because as soon as a message loses focus (when you click another message), it is automatically marked as read and far too often other devices (phones, for example) mark messages as read. Inevitably, messages will be reread, and the mental tax of figuring out what you need to do will be paid again. Using unread/read state as the “line” between those items in your Inbox that are “tasks” and those that just haven’t been processed tends to break down when you receive many messages, some of which you will never read because you can tell by looking at the subject that you don’t need to read them. A far more efficient Inbox plan is to go through your messages and decide what to do with each one. Then it should leave your Inbox — not remain "unread."

Why should I file my messages? 

It is a best practice to have a central repository for your messages, so that you can refer to them after you've "dealt" with them. By having a limited number of folders to look in (1-Reference and 2-Personal), you don't have to worry about misfiling a message or needing to copy it into multiple folders if it applies to more than one topic or project. That's not to say that there isn't a need for browsing through messages that are all on a particular topic or project. Outlook for Mac 2011 provides better tools — such as categories and Smart Folders — so you can search effectively.

Why should I have only one reference folder? 

By having a single folder, you don't have to think about which folder holds which messages, and you know that everything in this folder is something that you have looked at before and wanted to keep.

Having multiple folders means that each time you file a message, you are forced to decide which folder to use. This becomes even more complicated if there is more than one appropriate folder per message. Since many folders go unused when there are multiple choices, this creates clutter.

Although it might not seem like a big deal to leave all of your messages in your Inbox, there is a hidden cost you pay every time you look at a message and wonder, "Is this something I have to deal with or is this just here for reference?" There is also peace of mind gained from having an Inbox filled only with new things. Your Inbox is a place that other people can manipulate; what you put in your reference folder is strictly up to you.

Why do I need different folders for Contact Groups? 

Which Contact Groups should go to a folder instead of my Inbox? 

Good candidates for a Contact Group rule and folder are Contact Groups that:

Corporate-level messages with important news (for example, from the CEO) and messages from your IT department about server downtime should not go into a folder. Messages to a Contact Group that only occasionally contain useful or interesting content, regardless of frequency, should have a rule and a folder

How do I set up the “To: me” rule? 

How do I set up the “Contact Groups" rule? 

For each contact group that you are a member of where you don’t have to read every message, create a rule.

Tip  If you can think of no reason that you would want an email message sent to this contact group to be sent to your Inbox, consider asking to be removed from the Contact Group.

Why should I use rules? 

As time goes on, you will likely receive more and more messages. You cannot read every message you receive — nor should you try to. Rather, just read the messages that are important for you to read. Rules will help you prioritize important messages and minimize distractions.

What should I do with unused categories? 

Delete all of the categories that you don't plan to use. The same category set applies to all items, so if you use a category for contacts, keep it.

What’s the best way to choose colors? 

When creating color categories, be thoughtful in your color choices. For example, don’t choose the same color for @phone as @email, but do choose similar colors (shades of green, for example) for all of your 1:1 categories. Over time, you will be able to look at your task list and determine just by color whether the task is presently actionable. For example, if @Home is purple, and you are at work, you can't do any purple tasks.

Why schedule time for myself? 

By scheduling time for yourself on your calendar, your free/busy information will be updated and people will be less likely to schedule you for that time. If you have a busy calendar, this might be the only way you can get dedicated time to do your job.

It also helps you to make a commitment to doing work — if you put it on your calendar, you should be committed to doing that work at that time. If someone schedules over your work time, make sure to reschedule your time. Don't cheat yourself!

How do I handle the 10,000 messages in my Inbox? 

If you have more than 20 items in your Inbox, process the last week of messages and then select the remaining messages and move them to your 1-Reference folder. Yes, you can do this, and it will feel great.

Why do I get so many messages? 

If you feel overwhelmed by messages, you are probably receiving more than you can possibly handle, and you might need to set up more aggressive rules. Try analyzing where your messages are coming from by arranging your messages by From and then collapse all of the headers. Are you reading Contact Groups that you don't need to read? If so, create a rule. If you change your view, don't forget to change it back!

I have 10 minutes: What should I read first in my Inbox? 

If you are short on time, for example, between meetings, you can read the messages with Any Recipient is Me – messages sent directly to you. Often these messages are waiting on you for the next step and are the most important.

How often should I read my messages? 

For many of us, reading messages is nearly an addiction. Spend 20 minutes in the morning going through your messages, and then turn your attention to doing a daily review of your task list. Then get on with your day! Limiting the time you spend reading messages to once in the morning and once at the end of the day could significantly improve your productivity. Try it for a full week and see for yourself.

How can I manage complicated tasks? 

If you just want to remember a few related tasks, list them in the body of the task

Should I keep personal and business tasks together? 

If possible, keep your personal and business tasks in one place. Keeping one list reduces the number of places that you need to look for what needs to be done. Even if you already have only one list, use categories to sort your personal from business tasks and manage your list effectively. Your personal tasks will be stored on your company's Exchange Server and could be visible to your IT department, so only put appropriate personal tasks on your list.

What’s wrong with keeping tasks in my head? 

Keeping tasks in your head doesn't work. It is liberating to depend on Outlook for Mac 2011 instead of your overtaxed brain to keep track of your tasks. You can stop spending brain power reminding yourself of your tasks ("Okay, remember to send John a message about the templates, send John a message about the templates…") and focus on the activity at hand.

Why keep my tasks in Outlook for Mac 2011? 

Why a task list in Outlook for Mac 2011 works better than a paper list:

Advanced: How do I create a Smart Folder for email messages? 

A Smart Folder, also known as a saved search or a search folder, is a virtual folder that dynamically displays a set of search results. For example, you could create a search to find all the items in the Manager category that are flagged for follow up but not yet completed. This search can be saved as a Smart Folder so that you can use these search criteria later without having to manually recreate the advanced search.

	Notes
	To edit the criteria used for a Smart Folder, hold down CONTROL, click the Smart Folder, and then click Edit. When you are done changing the criteria or scope of the search, on the Search tab, click Save. To delete a Smart Folder, hold down CONTROL, click the Smart Folder, and then click Delete. Deleting a Smart Folder does not delete any of the items in the Smart Folder.

There are many excellent books and philosophies of time management from the following sources:

Books and other resources 

Additional online resources