Effective task management is essential for optimizing productivity and achieving organizational goals. Triage plays a pivotal role in this process by helping teams prioritize and allocate tasks efficiently.
This article provides an in-depth overview of how triage functions, highlighting its significance in enhancing workflow management and improving team collaboration. From categorizing items to assigning priorities, understanding the principles of triage can empower teams to streamline operations and achieve greater efficiency in project execution.
Index
Integrating with your email provider
Karbon integrates with Gmail, Office 365 (Business Plan or Business Premium) and Microsoft Exchange (version 2010 or newer). This tight integration means actions taken in one platform reflect in the other:
Clearing an email in Triage archives it in your inbox.
Archiving an email in your inbox clears it in Triage.
Moving an email back to your inbox makes it reappear in Triage.
Reading an email in Triage marks it as read in your inbox.
Please keep in mind
You cannot delete emails from your account via Karbon.
When you initially sync, Karbo will bring in your 20 most recent emails.
Anatomy of an email notification
Your Triage emails and notifications display key information to help you quickly process and manage them:
Avatar: Shows the sender (for emails), the author (for notes), or the assignee (for tasks).
Subject/Title: Displays the email subject or item title.
Assignee: Indicates who is responsible, if applicable.
Related Work Item: Links to the associated work item, if any.
Contact: Shows the relevant contact, if any.
Thread Count: Number of emails in the thread (emails only).
Comments: Number of comments.
Attachments: Number of attached files.
Unread Indicator: Bolded text.
Activity Time: Time of the most recent activity.
Read and unread items
If you haven't read an item yet, its title or subject line will appear in bold with a timestamp on the right. Once you click on it to read, the title or subject line will no longer be bold.
To mark an email as unread, click on the email's options menu (represented by three dots: ...), and select "Mark as unread." Any unread emails or comments within the item will also be displayed under it.
Client Request notifications will show any comments or activities, such as file uploads or task completions.
If a Client Request has been completed and includes an unread comment, the comment will be displayed. After you read the comment, the item will automatically show the latest update in the conversation, whether it is a comment or a completed activity.
Filtering your Triage items
To help you quickly navigate through Triage, the filter option allows you to choose from the following views:
All: Displays every item in Triage.
Unread: Shows only the items you have not yet read.
Email: Displays only emails.
Mentions: Shows any item (Task, Email, Note) where a comment includes an @mention of you or a team you are involved in.
Notifications: Displays all Triage items except emails (includes Client Requests, Work Assignments, Notes, and Tasks where you have been @mentioned).
Involves Contacts: Shows items involving contacts you have saved in Karbon.
Doesn't Involve Contacts: Shows items that do not involve contacts saved in Karbon.
Click on the numbers on the top right corner of the screen to view your emails from the last page first
Actioning your emails
The goal of Triage is to clear out every item and quickly take action on emails. With emails in Triage, you can:
Reply to an email as you would in your email inbox. Once you have replied and actioned the email, clear it by clicking the cleared icon. If you have attached the email to a contact or a work item, you will still be able to find it on that timeline.
Add an email to a contact's timeline. Timelines are similar to email folders as they store all communication between your team and the client.
Add an email to a piece of work if the email is part of a job you're working on (i.e. monthly bookkeeping, sales tax, etc.), so your team can see all relevant communication tied to it.
Assign an email to yourself or a team member if you want them to take ownership and action it. Once assigned, clear it. The assigned email will show up on your colleague's to-do list where you can track the status.
Have an email you need to action later? Plan when you want to action your email, by clicking on 'Plan for This week'. The email will now show up in 'My Week' where you can action it or move it to the week you want to do it in. Go ahead and clear the email from Triage afterward.
Accept a meeting invite directly from Triage when you have your calendar connected to Karbon.
Eliminating Triage clutter
There are several options to help you declutter and reduce the noise in your Triage.
Use the Low Priority for emails that you may want to read later
Turn off email notifications for conversations that are no longer relevant to you
Have certain emails skip Triage
Clear the items individually or in bulk
Low Priority
To keep your inbox organized, consider marking emails that are not of high importance, such as newsletters, event invitations, or system updates, as low priority. Here’s how you can do it:
Open Triage: Locate the email you want to mark as low priority.
Access Options Menu: Click on the email's options menu (represented by three dots or an ellipsis: ...).
Select Low Priority: Choose the "Low Priority" option from the menu.
By doing this, the selected email and all future emails from the same sender will be automatically directed to your low priority section, helping you focus on more important messages.
Later
If you come across an item in your Triage that you can't address immediately or that isn't relevant to your current work, you can move it to the Later section.
Open Triage: Locate the email you want to mark for later.
Access Options Menu: Click on the email's options menu (represented by three dots or an ellipsis: ...).
Select Low Priority: Choose the "Later" option from the menu.
📝 Quick Tip
📝 Quick Tip
To defer an email for later, locate it in Triage, then click the "Later" icon located to the right of the email. This helps you prioritize your inbox effectively.
Here, you can still perform all the same actions as in Triage, such as assigning tasks, mentioning colleagues, etc., with the exception of marking them as Low Priority.
Items will stay in the Later section unless:
Clear the email.
Move it back to Triage.
Activity on the item moves it back to Triage, according to the notify me rules.
A scheduled email reminder reaches its set date/time (see below for details).
Email Reminders
Setting an Email Reminder lets you schedule a specific date and time to be reminded of an important email.
Steps to Add a Reminder:
Locate the email you want to set a reminder for.
Click the Bell Icon: Next to the email's subject line, click on the bell icon.
Set date and time when you want to be reminded.
Once the reminder is set, the email will automatically move to your Later section.
If there's new activity, such as a reply or when the reminder time arrives, the email will return to your Triage for follow-up. You can easily adjust or remove reminders as needed.
Turn off Notifications
If you are mentioned (@mention) in an email conversation, you will receive notifications in your Triage for any subsequent activity on that thread. If you prefer not to receive notifications for new comments, simply click the notification toggle for that specific email to turn them off.
Have emails skip Triage
You can choose for certain emails to skip Triage by creating rules and folders in your email client. When you've done this, reach out to support by clicking on Help & Feedback - Still can't find what you need? Let us know which folders you would like to skip and we will set that up.
Clearing items from Triage
When you clear an email in Triage, it will be archived in your inbox, removing it from your active view.
If you have no further action to take on an email or have already addressed it, clearing it from Triage is recommended.
Options for Clearing Emails:
Clear an Individual Item: Click to clear a single email.
Bulk Clearing: Clear multiple emails at once.
Multi-Select Clearing: Select and clear several items simultaneously.
Clear an Item
To clear an email, click on the clear icon from your email actions menu:
Note: The clear icon is now a box with a tick
Clear in Bulk
To clear emails in bulk, click on the square button on the left-hand side of Triage to select the emails you want to clear, then click Clear.
Multi-select items
With the multi-select option, you can pick and choose the items you would like to delete. Just hold the Shift key and select the first email you’d like to clear and select the last item, all the items in between will be selected as well, and select Clear.
When an email is cleared from Triage, it will be located in your Cleared Items, found under 'Triage' in your main menu on the left.
Triage shortcuts
The quickest way to get back to Triage from anywhere else in Karbon is to click the Triage icon at the top right corner.
When you have clicked on an email to read it, you can hit the Escape (Esc) button to quickly collapse the email again.
Triage Icons
Here are the Triage Icons that allow you to action your items in a faster way.
Later: This icon allows you to send items to your Later bucket within Triage.
Assign to Colleague: This icon allows you to assign emails directly to a colleague.
Add to Work: This icon allows you to add an item to a Work Item.
Clear: This allows you to clear any items from your Triage.
Here's a comprehensive guide to what notifications you can expect in Triage:
Assignments:
You'll receive notifications when:
You are assigned an email.
You are assigned a note.
You are assigned a work item (excluding automated assignments via repeat work schedules).
Client task comments related to your assignment.
Assignments like notes or work items appear under the 'Notifications' filter in Triage, while assigned emails are categorized under 'Emails'.
Mentions:
Notifications occur when:
You or your team are @mentioned in an email.
You or your team are @mentioned in a note.
You or your team are @mentioned in a comment.
You or your team are @mentioned in a client task.
These mentions are grouped under the 'Mentions' filter in Triage.
Additional Notes:
Each new comment following your @mention in an email, note, or comment triggers a notification.
You can manage your notification preferences by toggling them on or off. This allows you to follow threads or activities you're interested in, even if you're not directly involved.
Turning Notifications On/Off:
To stop receiving notifications for ongoing threads or tasks, simply toggle off notifications. You will only receive notifications when explicitly @mentioned thereafter.
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