It's estimated that the average corporate user sends and received some 112 e-mails daily. Also, some 85 percent of global Internet users check their e-mail daily. That's about 14 e-mails per hour and even if half of those don't require a lot of time and concentration, that level of e-mail volume can be stressful and lead to unproductive time. Once imagined to be a time-saver, has the inbox become a burden? Back in 2007, U.S Cellular's executive vice president, Jay Ellison (who has since retired) implemented a ban on e-mail every Friday. In his memo announcing the change to employees, he told them to get out and meet people they work with rather than sending an e-mail. That directive went over with a thud. One employee confronted him saying that Ellison didn't understand how much work had to get done and how much easier it was when using e-mail. Eventually, however, the employees were won over. Forced to use the phone, one employee learned that a co-worker he thought was across the country, was instead, across the hall. Now, in 2012, other executives are discovering the benefits of banning e-mails.
Jessica Rovello, cofounder and president of Arkadium, which develops games, has described e-mail as "a form of business attention-deficit disorder." She found herself and her employees putting e-mail in the inbox ahead of everything else being worked on. What she decided to do was only check her e-mail four times a day and to turn off her e-mail notification. Another Executive, Tim Fry of Weber Shandwick, a global public relations firm, spent a year preparing to "wean" his employees off their e-mail system. His goal: dramatically reduce how much e-mail employees send and receive. His approach started with the firm's interoffice communication system, which became an internal social network, with elements of Facebook, work group collaboration software, and an employee bulletin board. And then there Thierry Breton, head of one of Europe's top IT firms, Atos. He announced a "zero e-mail policy" to be replaced with a service more like Facebook and Twitter combined.
Question to Answer About This Case Study
1. What do you think of this? Do you agree that e-mail can be unproductive in the workplace?
2. Were you surprised at the volume of e-mail an average employee receives daily? How much e-mail would you say you receive daily? Has your volume of e-mail increased? Have your had to change your e-mail habits?
3. What do you think of the e-mail "replacement" some businesses are using-more of a social media tool? In what ways might it be better? Worse?
4. What implications can you see for managers and communication from this story?