Too Many Emails at Work: 7 Tips to Adopt (and 2 Traps to Avoid)
31 March 2015
Read by 2840 persons
A method to free oneself from the social trap of electronic messaging.
In the early 1990s, many experts predicted that email would increase employee well-being by making communication easier and faster than ever. Indeed, gone were the days of fax problems, paper jams, and the slowness of traditional mail.
Today, however, the past advantages of email have transformed into a social trap. As John Platt described in 1973, social traps are situations where individuals, organizations, or entire societies have chosen a certain direction or set of relationships that later prove to be harmful, with no possible return or way to avoid the unpleasantness.
From time saving to time wasting
In 2015, nearly 100 billion business emails were sent every day! To set up a meeting, it was simply enough to go see a colleague at their desk. But today, it generally requires several email exchanges before those involved even decide on a time and place. The saturation of the inbox is also exacerbated by the (often unnecessary) copying of other staff members.
Source: ESSEC Knowledge, the ESSEC online portal dedicated to research, expertise, and academic leadership of its faculty
According to a recent McKinsey report, employees spend about 13 hours a week on their email. Some feel so overwhelmed by the volume of messages that they use their personal time before bed, weekends, and at the end of vacations just to stay afloat.
It is clear that the initial objective of email – to increase efficiency and save time – has been lost.
A contributing factor to stress
Not only do many expect quick responses to the emails they send, but they also put extra pressure on themselves to respond as quickly as possible. Some employees spend almost all their time responding to messages. For multinational managers, entrepreneurs, and partners in different time zones, this can mean sending and receiving emails in the middle of the night and on weekends.
Email has created a work environment where employees are overwhelmed and under constant pressure to respond almost instantly to requests.
How to save your productivity from the email flood?
To avoid:
To prioritize:
Stefan Gröschl.
Huffingtonpost.fr
Published March 30, 2015.
Posted online March 31, 2015.
In the early 1990s, many experts predicted that email would increase employee well-being by making communication easier and faster than ever. Indeed, gone were the days of fax problems, paper jams, and the slowness of traditional mail.
Today, however, the past advantages of email have transformed into a social trap. As John Platt described in 1973, social traps are situations where individuals, organizations, or entire societies have chosen a certain direction or set of relationships that later prove to be harmful, with no possible return or way to avoid the unpleasantness.
From time saving to time wasting
In 2015, nearly 100 billion business emails were sent every day! To set up a meeting, it was simply enough to go see a colleague at their desk. But today, it generally requires several email exchanges before those involved even decide on a time and place. The saturation of the inbox is also exacerbated by the (often unnecessary) copying of other staff members.
Source: ESSEC Knowledge, the ESSEC online portal dedicated to research, expertise, and academic leadership of its faculty
According to a recent McKinsey report, employees spend about 13 hours a week on their email. Some feel so overwhelmed by the volume of messages that they use their personal time before bed, weekends, and at the end of vacations just to stay afloat.
It is clear that the initial objective of email – to increase efficiency and save time – has been lost.
A contributing factor to stress
Not only do many expect quick responses to the emails they send, but they also put extra pressure on themselves to respond as quickly as possible. Some employees spend almost all their time responding to messages. For multinational managers, entrepreneurs, and partners in different time zones, this can mean sending and receiving emails in the middle of the night and on weekends.
Email has created a work environment where employees are overwhelmed and under constant pressure to respond almost instantly to requests.
How to save your productivity from the email flood?
To avoid:
- Prohibiting email exchanges in the evening and on weekends: this can encourage managers to work offline on the weekend, and press the "send" button on Monday morning, thus leaving their employees flooded at 9 am on Monday morning;
- Using or encouraging filtering: being reactive with a shortlist and ignoring the "masses" can lead to much frustration and decreased productivity for those who are semi-ignored by their bosses or peers.
To prioritize:
- Promote traditional exchanges: a phone conversation, a chance encounter at the coffee machine, or an impromptu face-to-face discussion can sometimes be the most effective way to move forward on a project;
- Schedule "offline" periods: This will limit distractions and reduce the temptation to respond "too quickly" to every email;
- Reserve a specific time slot to respond to emails: this will lead to more thoughtful responses;
- Keep your emails brief and direct whenever possible: And think twice if a message is necessary for everyone;
- Stop putting everyone in copy: ask yourself if such and such really needs to read this, or are you just wasting their time?
- Set your spam filter: free your inbox from cumbersome advertisements
- Make your out-of-office message more direct: Save yourself headaches by letting people know that all emails received during your absence will be deleted, and that if they want to talk to you, they must contact you again upon your return.
Stefan Gröschl.
Huffingtonpost.fr
Published March 30, 2015.
Posted online March 31, 2015.
