Email Overload

From Alan Mason's blog, a consultant, some thoughts about email overload. And a modest suggestion about coping with the stuff.

First off, there’s the habit of using email instead of going to meet with the other person. Even within the same office it’s not unusual to find people emailing to someone five doors down. There’s a growing concern that we’re reducing human contact. All of us has either sent an email, or received an email, that was written in a much more harsh tone than what that person would do in person. There’s no intonation or facial expression in an email, so it’s much easier to misinterpret the email. Or, the sender became another person for a minute, saying something in email the way they never would face to face.

The second major challenge businesses are having is wasting time. How many times have you replied to an email requesting you at a meeting, to which you replied “I’ll be there,” and the other person responds with “Great.” Or someone who thinks they’re Robin Williams tries to regale you with their sense of humor? Then there’s my favorite, where what I have to say is so important that I CC half of Northern America.

But the third problem may be the most important one: Studies have shown that email is keeping us back from making a decision as quickly as we would face to face. It’s too easy to respond with more questions, and then forward it to someone else to see what they think. All while the question goes unanswered, and the clock keeps ticking. In a face to face meeting questions are asked and answered right away, and the decision comes more quickly.

Some more innovative businesses have created “Email Free Friday,” where you must conduct all business in the same office face to face, and within the country via the telephone. You have to interact directly with a human unless they’re out of the country. Those who have tried this see quick results and decisions being reached more quickly. They’re seeing a business that’s more productive overall, and more sensitive to the human element.

What do you think? Would your workweek be more productive if you banned email every now and then?