Email "bankruptcy"

[Kacey]

From The Dallas Morning News:

The supposed convenience of electronic mail, like so many other innovations of technology, has become too much for some people. Swamped by an unmanageable number of messages -- the volume of e-mail traffic has nearly doubled in the past two years, according to research firm DYS Analytics -- and plagued by annoying spam and viruses, some users are saying "Enough!"
Those declaring bankruptcy are swearing off e-mail entirely or, more commonly, deleting all old messages and starting fresh.
E-mail overload gives many workers the sense that their work is never done, said senior analyst David Ferris, whose firm, Ferris Research, said there were 6 trillion business e-mails sent in 2006. "A lot of people like the feeling that they have everything done at the end of the day," he said. "They can't have it anymore."
So some say they're moving back to the telephone as their preferred means of communication.

On the one hand, I sympathize completely... on the other, email has been a boon for me because I don't forget what went on in the conversation, and I can answer it when it is convenient for me, instead of trying playing phone tag.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

E-mail is simply awesome in my opinion.

 

[Ping898]

I much prefer email to other methods of communication, but I agree it is easy to get overwhelmed.

 

[Rich Parsons]

I get a minimum of 50 e-mails at work per day. If I am gone for a couple of days I could have 300 plus e-mails to go through. I can see why it is overwhelming to some as this means one has to deal with all these mesages. the managers who get more than I, many times wait until it has URGENT in teh title and marked URGETN my the mail system and ACTION Required before reading it. They also ignore lots that are BCC and CC by setting up filters to file them away until they get a chance to look at them later.

The system we use has a programmed limit. We call it e-mail jail when you get more e-mails then the limit. For you have to archive or delete enough to get below the limit to be able to reply or send e-mails.

On my personal e-mails and yes I have more than one. I have them for different reasons. i.e. Martial Arts (* business and friends *), Family and school Friends and one for other hobbies, and another or two for just spam when I am required to have an e-mail. The last two were for when I belonged to internet dating services, but I know use them for other reasons. Some of them can get upwards of 75 plus e-mails that are automatically fitlered and filled into the Bulk/spam folder. I just delete those. Sometimes I do browse titles to see if I know someone.

But I really like e-mail. So I use it and try to keep my e-mail at work to less than one page (* 50 - 60 *) of e-mails I have to work on or owe an answer to someone.

 

[Carol]

I love it. Getting buried under the crush of e-mails when I come in at 4pm does get tiresome but it keeps me up to date on what issues the other shifts are facing better than anything else.

 

[MBuzzy]

I think that e-mail is a tool just like anything else - the phone included. Though in my job, I could not function without e-mail, I understand where people are coming from. Right now, there are over 200 e-mails in my Inbox and some of them I won't get to for weeks.

For e-mail to be effective, you just have to understand the limitations. From a legal standpoint, I love it. When dealing with contractors, I have a legal written record of communications. I also have a read receipt from them, showing that they have read and are therefore informed of things. From a day to day operations stand point, it is a great way to deliver taskers, but if it is important enough, it NEEDS either a visit or a follow-up phone call. I once had a boss who said "If you e-mail me something important, print it out and put it on my chair or I won't see it for months." That was someone who got over 200 e-mails PER DAY.

Most people in my job feel that you hit reply, fire it out and JOB DONE. In my opinion though, that is not true. You still must follow up. Which leads me to the last point...e-mail as a management style is HORRIBLE. You cannot manage any group of people from Outlook. You MUST go see them. You must talk to them. You must understand their jobs. Those who use e-mail management are destined to fail almost every time (at least in my job).