Comments on: no emails on Wednesday – I’ll be working

By: Wikinomics » Blog Archive » Getting out of email jail

Wikinomics » Blog Archive » Getting out of email jail — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 18:27:24 +0000

[...] organizations are now considering email-free days, as the article points out (and we talked about here). We’ve tried to encourage our clients to adopt social media tools as an alternative to [...]

By: Mike Dover

Mike Dover — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:56:49 +0000

I love the accepted brevity that comes with the use of a blackberry.

Or…

BB shrt msgs

By: Denis

Denis — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 20:02:25 +0000

The thing I love about text messaging (on mobile phones) is it’s still kind of difficult. If someone takes the time to thumb out a message to me it’s likely quite important, and it will be to the point.

I am quite intrigued by the “client” idea. It’s amazing how email might just morph into a method for “formal, structured conversations”, isn’t it?

Of course, some people might argue a shift of conversations from email to IM is like getting out of the lion cage and jumping in with the tiger…

By: Ed C

Ed C — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:19:25 +0000

We came across an instance in the UK in a leading investment bank. The reaction to addressing the email volume problem was one driven from a storage and compliance angle rather than a behavioural one. As we understood it, the bank applied a standard email categorisation module to the email client, meaning every email had to be categorised at point of sending. What the module did not offer as an option for “chat”. Therefore the chat migrated to the IM platform that is inherant in Banks and email volumes reduced significantly….APPARENTLY. This is more a case of the appropriate platform for each type of communication. We see it increasingly as the email client, that we are all so used to, will increasingly be configured to carry all communications in relevant silos – RSS for Blogs and Wiki feeds, IM for chat launched from the email client and email for formal structured conversations.

By: T. Garland

T. Garland — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 15:36:36 +0000

I use a handheld PC/smartphone, but I almost never set it to automatically receive e-mail. I retreive e-mail manually when and I’ve premeditated time for doing so. When in the office, focused on a project I log into Outlook only at set times. Maybe only once or twice a day (and often late in the evening or early in the morning. For minor logistical communications i.e. confirming meeting time/place, etc., between team members, I LOVE text messaging. Also, business travel is a welcome reprieve, providing time to read on airplanes and deal with electronic communications from the hotel room when I’m ready to do so. I will say, however, that FaceBook, LinkedIn and Plaxo are creating extra layers of electronic noise to deal with as lots of people seek new ways to connect without considering the implications of more “screen time.” I believe self discipline is really the only approach that makes sense. Companies need to empower, and expect, workers to manage their communications as well as their time wisely. After all, the technology is a tool, not a master.