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Is email yesterday’s technology and will email overload soon be a thing of the past? Maybe for Generation K – teenagers. However, four recent studies on email overload and email traffic suggest that this is definitely not the case see below.
Email overload
1. Email alert: full inboxes leave staff exhausted. Professor Cary Cooper pronounced that email is sapping the life out of the British workforce. It is one reason why British productivity is the lowest in the G7 group. Germany and France are taking action to reduce the email overload malaise, but few UK based companies are doing anything. Sir Cary says ‘companies need to take drastic action’.
2. Here are some of the findings from a fascinating new study of the email behaviour of over 2 million users by a group of researchers at Yahoo and the University of Southern California.
2. The overall volume of emails sent and received is predicted to grow by 3% year on year between 2015 and 2019 according to the Radicati Groups latest email statistics report. This may be a small increase but nonetheless it is still up rather than down.
3. Pointless emails are common. A study focused on British email users (by Sennheiser) found that of 2,000 business users one third felt there was always someone in their team who sent pointless emails (eg the photo copier is broken) when an alternative more effective method could be used. 38% confessed to sending an email which started an email war and 25% said they used email instead of talking because they were emailing about a person sitting close by!
Even if you only receive half the number of emails identified in these studies that is 50 per day and 10,000+ per year. If you are a manger the volume will be higher and the email overload more pronounced.
There are important lessons to be drawn from these studies, not least about email etiquette, the risk of missing important emails as email traffic increases and the impact of email overload on business and personal productivity and finding key emails when needed to support your reason for actions taken.
Simply banning email is not a solution as the Grossman Group pointed out. The solution is to change the email culture and enable people to use email more responsibility. Know when to stop an email chain and talk, no reply is required, etc.
These are challenges which Mesmo Consultancy regularly addresses in its email management training webinars, workshops and one-to-one coaching. If these are issues you face then why not call us now to hear how we have helped other clients like you?
Tags: Cary Cooper, email etiquette, email management training, email overload, Generation K, Generation X, Generation Y, Mesmo Consultancy, Millenials, Radicati Group, Sennheiser, The Grossman Group, University of Southern California, Yahoo
In the final part of this series of interview with David Grossman, he reviews what are the barriers and drivers to creating a more effective email communications culture.
Monica: What do you see as the principle issues restricting the use of email within organizations?
David: Limiting email and reducing abuses is a step in the right direction, especially for middle managers.
We conducted research of 1,100 executives, senior leaders, managers, and employees on their perceptions of e-mail.
Our 2012 email perception study, “Enough Already! Stop Bad Email,” shows that when it comes to email overload, it’s the middle managers who feel the most pain:
And yet, they don’t want their ability to use email taken away or even interrupted. 83 percent of middle managers agree that email is an effective and necessary communication tool, and only 15 percent said that limiting email during normal business hours would be very effective. Our research suggests that to melt the iceberg that is the “Frozen Middle,” companies need to do a few things:
All that said, limiting email and stopping abuses isn’t the ultimate solution to improving employee engagement, work-life balance, and productivity. Really, it’s a Band-Aid because the much larger issue is about ineffective communications inside organizations today, which is negatively affecting business results. That means leadership needs to assess and improve the overall communication system for the organization.
Monica: How can we improve this situation – top three tips.
David:
For more information on email overload, its effects on the frozen middle, and additional tips, visit our Email Research and Resource Center.
David Grossman, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA helps leaders drive productivity and get the results they want through authentic and courageous leadership communication, a sought-after speaker and advisor to Fortune 500 leaders. A two-time author, David is CEO of The Grossman Group, an award-winning Chicago-based strategic leadership development and internal communication consultancy; clients include: DuPont Pioneer, Lockheed Martin, McDonald’s, Motel 6 and Tyco, to name a few.
Tags: Clean Inbox, clean out your inbox week, corporate email etiquette, David Grossman, email communications, email overload, The Grossman Group
In the second part of our discussions, David Grossman talked through key ways to improve email communications, both in terms of how and what your write (email etiquette) and making you email software work for you. All of this will again help you keep a clean inbox (and maybe even an empty inbox).
Monica: Given that email is an effective communications tool – how can we make better use of it?
David: Use email only when it’s the most appropriate vehicle for your communication. These situations include when you need to:
Additionally, to keep your inbox clean, consider these strategies, along with the many others that were shared this week:
As you experiment with what works for you, you’ll begin to create new habits that will tame the email monster.
Click here to benchmark your email etiquette using Mesmo Consultancy’s free on-line tools. To gauge how well you use Outlook click here.
In part three David talks about how to improve the organisational email culture.
David Grossman, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA helps leaders drive productivity and get the results they want through authentic and courageous leadership communication, a sought-after speaker and advisor to Fortune 500 leaders. A two-time author, David is CEO of The Grossman Group, an award-winning Chicago-based strategic leadership development and internal communication consultancy; clients include: DuPont Pioneer, Lockheed Martin, McDonald’s, Motel 6 and Tyco, to name a few.
Tags: Clean Inbox, clean out your inbox week, David Grossman, email etiquette, Mesmo Consultancy, The Grossman Group
As part of the 7th International Clean Out Your Inbox Week, I was privileged to work with David Grossman CEO and founder of the Grossman Group leaders in strategic leadership and internal communication. This is the first of three discussions we had by a variety of media (phone, email etc).
Monica: Just how effective do you feel email is as a communications tool?
David: Email can be a highly effective communications tool, if used properly. That’s a big “if.” It’s a vehicle we love to hate, and many of us struggle with e-tiquette. Here are the most common abuses and bad habits that get in the way:
No wonder email gets a bad rap. Very few of us can say that we haven’t committed at least one of the sins above. We’re part of the problem, and also can be part of the solution.
The second interview reviews how we can make our email communications more effective and at the same time reduce the volume of email overload.
David Grossman, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA helps leaders drive productivity and get the results they want through authentic and courageous leadership communication, a sought-after speaker and advisor to Fortune 500 leaders. A two-time author, David is CEO of The Grossman Group, an award-winning Chicago-based strategic leadership development and internal communication consultancy; clients include: DuPont Pioneer, Lockheed Martin, McDonald’s, Motel 6 and Tyco, to name a few.
Tags: Clean Inbox Week, clean out your inbox week, David Grossman, email communications, email overload, The Grossman Group
