The Tyranny of Email

Circuit Breaker writes "Are you or your co-workers using email instead of phone, face to face conversations, or instant messaging? Read this article, and hand out copies to your mates."

Comments

Don't forget to CC their boss....

[Boss, Pointy Haired]

This is the most annoying aspect of email in the workplace. CC'ing somebody's f***** boss as if the recipient is going to think "Ah, he's CC'd my boss, i'd better get a move on with this."

All it does is PISS THEIR BOSS OFF.

And that's only the start of the problem. I have just been involved in a project where a minor issue that could have been resolved between two developers was blown up out of all proportion and resulted in a "crisis meeting" - all because of a reckless CC.

Email vs what?

[MartinG]

The article fails to address one important question IMO.

The fact is that for some people, being contactable is absolutely essensial throughout the working day. Personally, I find myself constantly being asked technical questions about a very wide range of subjects as well as having my own work to do. I have to have give answers at some point or others get no work done. If people want to know how to contact me, I have to tell them something!

By default the majority just pick up the phone and call me. This is an absolute disaster when I am in the middle of debugging some complex problem.

Most of the time now when someone phones with a technical question I ask them if they can send me an email about it. After hearing this several times they usually get the message and stop calling at all in favour of sending emails. This has improved my ability to work no end. I now check and answer emails in batches whenever I have a convenient breaking point.

Email has substantially reduced breaks in my concentration. Exactly the opposite of what the author finds.