Stop sending to all if all do not have a need to know.

“Reply All” is convenient. It is easy. BUT – If all don’t need to know, you’ve just intruded. Yes, every unnecessary email IS an intrusion.

Some companies have actually removed the ‘Reply All’ button. What a novel idea!

Be frugal with who’s copied on your responses. Not only will it save them time, YOU won’t get their response – so you’ll get less email too.

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According to a recent global study conducted by IABC (International Association of Business Communicators, ) our drowning in email is actually causing us to be less productive.

According to the study, the biggest sources of email overload are:

•News sources and professional subscriptions (61 %)

•Co-workers (39%)

•Professional networks (34%)

•Team/department sources (29%)

•Company wide corporate sources such as senior mgmt and HR (23%)

Source: http://www.urgentbusinessforms.com/employee_handbook.asp

Julie Freeman, President of IABC, stated that ,

…most people are struggling with how to manage it all and it’s having a significant impact on productivity around the world.An overwhelming majority (85 percent) said that it was having a negative impact at least some of the time. It was even higher (93 percent) for users of Blackberry devices and other personal digital assistants (PDAs).

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Tough question. Most times when people are using their cell phones at work, it is for personal reasons. If it is being done blatantly or obviously, it can be a real rub for the management staff. They are essentially using company time for personal stuff — not fair to the employer.

I know several companies that have banned the use of cell phones from the workplace, allowing them only at break time and at lunch. I personally think that this should be the appropriate goal. It is not just an issue with people being on their cell phones, but if they ring or beep with a text message while someone is on the phone with the client, it can be distracting. The other issue that is starting to arise is texting, which does not place the cell phone in someone’s ear, and can be done in their lap — being even more covert. The strong majority of all of this is personal and is taking away from the business. Cell phones should be kept out of sight, and not on desks where people can see incoming text messages, etc. Distractions are costly to business.

I think you know I am an advocate of promoting culture rather than rules. If you can have a companywide or departmentwide discussion on this whole issue and ask them to respect their business time and use cell phones only at breaks and at lunch, unless there’s an emergency, it could go a long way towards everyone being committed to not using them during work. If that fails, then a policy or a rule is the next best choice.

Some businesses do allow personal phone calls if they are kept short. This is the other way to go with it — by saying that cell phones are allowed for very brief phone calls but anything lengthy should be done at break or at lunchtime.

If it is one person who seems to be abusing their work time on the cell phone, then I would take the approach of having a discussion with that person. Sometimesthe resultant “buzz” is enough to get everybody to stop.

If there are people in your operation who use their cell phones for work, enforcement is much easier, because if the employer has given them the cell phone, the records are available to the employer to check personal versus business use.

Bottom line, the excessive personal use of cell phones and texting during working hours is a drain to the productivity of the business, and can be career threatening to the individual abusing the privilege.

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Some people actually try to solve complex issues by email. Ridiculous!

Check out our other blog post on Toxic Emailer “Chatroom Chuck.”

When something needs to be discussed, DON’T use email. Email is not for discussing, it is for the passing of one way communication.

So, beware the email meeting. Once you’ve seen an issue go around more than once, call a meeting!

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Great post by Jonathan Spira entitled, “The Siren’s Call of Information Overload”

Here’s an excerpt:

Instead of multitasking what we actually do is task switching which is really a series of continuous interruptions. While this is done in the belief that one is being more efficient and getting more done, nothing could be farther from the truth. Each interruption comes with a penalty. Read more…

Here is the link.

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Here is a blog post by Susan Johnson that outlines the value of filters managing e-mail overload.

As an example, she uses filters to mark certain newly received items as “read,” than automatically filed, so that she does not have to drag and drop these items yet knows where they reside.

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Okay. Now it is time to rant. This past week I received at least 15 e-mail messages with this simple one or two word response, “thanks” or “ok.”

Hey, I know folks are just trying to be nice. BUT – We have got to let go of our need to keep the trail going. With the average worker receiving anywhere from 100 to 150 e-mail messages daily, let’s do everyone a favor and stop with the one word responses.

I actually received this response — “Thanks — and how are the kids?”  Puh-lease! It is bad enough that you send me an e-mail I didn’t need, but now you are asking me to comment on something absolutely and totally unrelated to the original stream of information.

The one exception that I can tolerate as a one-word response is something that relates to a meeting or scheduling or timing. I actually do like to receive a message that says “Confirmed.”

What are your pet peeves?

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According to TechDirt.com, some psychiatrists have been pushing hard to have internet addiction officially classified in the psychiatrist’s bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The American Psychiatric Association recently proposed its new changes for DSM-5, the first update since 1994. Andinternet addiction is actually being considered

Read more…

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Tired of being on all those mailing lists?

Visit http://www.dmachoice.org and click on “remove my name from those lists.” This complimentary service not only helps you with information on how to remove yourself from telephone solicitation but email solicitation.

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