Quiet day at the office, I have more time than usual to read List mail. Hence the unusual flurry of messages from me today. Glenn, your OT link was TOO funny. I passed it on to the people on the Archives List, too good to let it go by.
Rick, thanks for the link to the NYT article, Rick. That was interesting.
I'm fascinated by the fact that some people find email overwhelming. I'm not referring to the records management aspect, we've covered that well here on the List recently. I mean what the NYT article discussed. Perhaps there are environments in which people are perceived as incompetent if they do not immediately respond to every email. And where they get more email than they can handle. Or don't route mail to different electronic folders. Luckily, I haven't experienced any of that.
Some of what is in email once was written on routing slips or other notes and internal memos that piled up in an official's in box. You know, paper, that stuff that Steve HATES, LOL. (Like Glenn Sanders, I do remember ribbon copies, white, yellow and green carbons, etc.) For every person now who can't stand to see 100 or 200 unread messages in his or her electronic inbox, I'm sure there once was one in the old days who freaked out seeing a growing stack of unanswered or unfiled papers in the traditional desktop in box. And others who remained unfazed and made their way through everything as they had time, prioritizing as needed.
I sometimes see people get annoyed about the volume of Listserv messages, here or on the Archives List. Like most of you, I have days when I'm so swamped that I never peek at Listserv mail, at all, on other days I click on most messages as they come in to my various folders. For those of us in one-person functions, Listserv email can provide a great sense of community and knowledge. Feels less lonely!
The manager who threatened to fine anyone who sent her unnecessary email probably didn't consider that people react to "threats" in different ways. I think a better approach would have been to tell her employees about the volume of email she had been getting, then provide some guidance on what she prefers to see and/or be copied on and what not.
The manager probably also isn't familiar with Myers-Briggs. Some people prefer written to oral communication. They prefer to email a carbon copy to a colleague rather than spend the time chatting in someone's office, or walking copies over to others. Or they need a recorded "audit trail." Smart employees figure out which among their colleagues is an Introvert- or Extrovert-type and tailor their interaction accordingly. The trick is to figure out what your boss is, of course! (If anyone wants to read an interesting article about Introverts v. Extroverts, contact me off List and I'll send you the URL to an article. )
Before hitting send, I just re-read part of Rick's NYT article and saw that that manager who tried to fine people over email is an executive at a management training company! Now that is too funny!! I wonder what she comes out as on Myers Briggs!
Maarja
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