The disparity between managing email and managing MS Teams often goes unnoticed, yet companies are paying a hefty price for overlooking it.

Consider Teams as your virtual neighborhood and Outlook as the broader world encompassing your neighborhood. While you can invite external parties to your Teams neighborhood, the invitation process is selective. In contrast, Outlook operates on a “come one, come all” basis; anyone with your email address can join the party. Despite spam protection acting as a gated complex, it’s challenging to distinguish between neighbors, well-meaning visitors, and manipulative marketers seeking your attention.

In general, most communications in Teams are internal, which doesn’t diminish their importance but underscores a difference in focus compared to customer interactions, particularly in sales and customer service.

Now, envision assigning a monetary value to each email in your inbox. While some emails enhance...

Cleaning out an inbox every now and then can be considered a bad practice for several reasons:

It can be time-consuming: Setting aside a specific time to clean out your inbox can take a lot of time and effort, especially if you have many messages to go through. This can be especially challenging if you’re trying to balance multiple tasks and responsibilities.

It can lead to missed opportunities: If you’re only cleaning out your inbox infrequently, it’s possible that you’ll miss important messages or opportunities. For example, if you’re only checking your inbox once a week, you may miss a deadline for a job application or a sale that ends in a day.

It can lead to unnecessary stress: If your inbox is constantly overflowing with messages, it can be stressful and overwhelming. Waiting until you have time to clean it out can make the problem even worse, leading to additional stress and anxiety.

Instead, it is better to have a system in place that allows you...