Hello EA pros! As you know, I recently changed teams at work. I support two new executives and their teams that do not intersect. The two interim EAs were quite happy to turn these leaders over to me. For my first week on the job, I got hammered with incoming meeting requests and needed a way to manage incoming invites so I re-examined using Outlook Rules to apply Color Categories.
I added 3 new colors: one for each leader and one for the org to keep track of the leadership team level mechanisms. I created a simple rules (one condition and one result with no exceptions) to manage the flood of emails.
Here are the instructions to applying a color category to incoming
Color Category for Delegate Invites
Before you create the rule:
1. Open the invite
2. Open Properties (File > Properties)
3. In the Internet headers box, find the target email. It should looks something like this: X-MS-Exchange-Inbox-Rules-Loop: alias@company.com Copy the italicized code
4. Close the message
Create the rule:
5. From the Ribbon, select Rules
6. Create Rule
7. Select Advanced Option. Step 1: Check “with specific words in the message header”. Step 2: click specific words and paste the code from #3 above (should be on your clipboard). Click Add. Click OK.
8. Click Next. Step 1: assign a Category. Step 2: click Category and select your color category
9. Click Next. Choose an Exception, if appropriate.
10. Click Next
11. Finish Rule Set up. Step 1: Name the Rule (short name is best). Step 2: check both boxes (run rule and turn on rule)
12. Click Finish
If you set the rule up correctly, your delegate meeting invites are color coded!
As mentioned in my post 3 Simple Outlook Automations, I have rules for moving meeting invites into a Meetings to Schedule folder plus 2 other rules.
I’m going to create a rule to move incoming emails with the words “meeting request” in the subject line into the Meetings to Schedule folder. It won’t catch all the emails, but it would catch some and reduce the time I spend manually moving meeting requests to that folder.
Standard work tip: use this wording in the email subject line:
Meeting request | 30 minutes | Name of meeting
Ask the folks you work with you use this format and share your rule to help your EA besties save time.
What Outlook time savers have you set up? Leave a comment & share your tips and tricks.
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