The world is constantly updating and refreshing in an Internet-based society. To counter all of this madness, some companies have taken to setting limits on employee e-mail accounts to increase productivity. By filtering a certain amount of e-mails through per hour, companies hope to put the focus back on work and away from personal messages. Other companies believe this can damage a relationship with clients. Two local businessmen offer their opinion on the matter.
“The interruption of e-mail—whether work related or not—is an irritant that must be contained.”
Darren L. Crane, President (pictured, left)
DLC Technology Solutions, Inc., Marlton
One approach is to compartmentalize the employee’s attention to e-mail. Perhaps there are only certain times per day when they review and respond to e-mail. The rest of the time, staff are focused on getting their job done. … If an entire business were to adopt this strategy, it would need to consider the impact to their operations. Since e-mail is often used as a method of rapid communication, a way to place orders or open support requests, neglecting e-mail for too long may cause a reduction in workflow, customer satisfaction or sales. Each business would need to clearly understand their e-mail purpose. ... However, for the average worker with a focused set of tasks, removing the distraction of the e-mail ‘ding’ throughout the day would undoubtedly have positive results.”
“My position on limiting e-mails in a business setting would be dependent upon the type of business.”
Scott H. Marcus, Esquire (pictured, right)
Scott H. Marcus and Associates, Turnersville
“In my law practice, we have a high utilization of e-mail, both with clients and outside attorneys, and internally among our lawyers and staff. It is the main way we communicate, so I would not propose any limitation in this context. I am sure that is true for many other service-focused businesses. Additionally, today with electronic filing of pleadings, these documents are all filed using a covering e-mail. However, to prevent abuse by staff in terms of personal e-mails, we retain all data on our server, and in so doing limit the use of e-mail for personal purposes. On the other hand, in the context of a manufacturing business, I could see putting a limit on e-mail usage by employees whose only e-mail use would be for personal reasons.”
Published (and copyrighted) in South Jersey Biz, Volume 1, Issue 12 (December, 2011).
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