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Open Thread: The value and quality of email at work
Merlin Mann | Nov 2 2005
40% of office workers spend 0.5-3 hours reading poorly written e-mail | IT Facts | ZDNet.com More with the email research results:
Things is, I keep encountering people who get 100, 200, 300, or more actionable emails each day; not cron notifications, bug list CCs, or lunch at Chili's for Suzie from AR's birthday--I'm talking about real emails that require more than a one-line response or represent some kind of non-email work. What amazes me is how much of people's email seems to be internal to their company, business unit, or direct team. If I ran a company and learned that most of my employees were spending that much time touching internal email, I'd ask my managers: "For how many and which employees is six hours of email each day adding value to the company?" Maybe that's just me. Understand: I get that email is the way teams communicate on important stuff, but at a certain point, we're back to the guy from Metropolis, aren't we? I realize my view on this stuff is extreme -- I'm a hobo and I work at home -- but you tell me:
Feel free to elaborate. And feel free to say you love getting all that email. I'd enjoy hearing a range of views on this. Also: Non-scientific email pollHow many actionable emails do you get each day? That's email that requires more than a one-line response or requests non-email work. 22 Comments
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 Of 30-50 emails a day,...Submitted by jessica (not verified) on November 3, 2005 - 11:59am.
Of 30-50 emails a day, 75% are actionable. And I love email - especially now that I've gotten better organized about acting on each message in some way the first time I read it. Plus auto-checking only once an hour (amazing how much that has cleared my head.) The nature of my work is key - I'm sort of the spider in the center of the web, and email is a great tool with the proper organization - which is for me a folder for each event or project, a tickler folder for items I'm waiting for replies on, a current project folder, and the inbox for the instant/urgent tasklist. The "paper trail" of emails helps us all keep track of everything, and at the same time I can actually work constructively if I'm not taking calls all day long. I also communicate with up to 400 people in one message, so email beats USPS mailers hands down - and by in large, most people are functional email users, so they actually receive the information and process it in a timely fashion. At the same time, 30-50 emails isn't that much - more would (and has) drained me of my life essence. It's a nice balance. » POSTED IN:
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