E-mail the office: the perverse
The business use of email is now widespread. Number of employees plébiscitent this tool, finding that 70% provides increased productivity, if we are to believe a study commissioned by the Australian company Dimension Data. Snapshot to contact several people at once and keep a written record, the mail seems to have installed as a means of communication in the company unbeatable.
And yet it does not benefit. Virtual, the massive use of electronic mail in particular has a tendency to dehumanize the management staff. "Some managers think they can coordinate and manage their teams from their messaging, notes Chevallet Romain, researcher at the National Agency for the Improvement of Working Conditions (Anact). But the mail does the illusion of coordination.The quality of the email exchange is no comparison with that which was in a meeting or simply between colleagues, "he says. Eric Albert, president of the French Institute for Action on stress (IFAS), reported a striking example of this dwindling trade. "You go account, it reports does one, two assistants who work in the same office send each other e-mails!". A phenomenon that is a real loss to the company. For dialogue face to face brought an emotional dimension that allows more adjustment to the other, to find compromises or to generate ideas …
A loss of 10 IQ points
The immediacy of the mall also has its downside."This permanent stress distracts the employee," Roman Chevallet analysis shows, supporting evidence, that the quality of work it is impacted, "A study of the London Institute of Psychiatry shows that go well with perpetually one task to another induces a loss of 10 IQ points, the equivalent of a sleepless night! "he says. Not to mention the stress caused by the influx of applications to which the employee is not always cope. A stress that tends to increase with the increasing demands of stakeholders, often owners of smartphones, which anticipate the responses of more and faster.
What, therefore, to use its smart messaging?
1. Introducing a hierarchy where the chronological order prevails. "It should restore priorities, stop confusing urgent and important," says Romain Chevallet.To do this, mails received may be classified according to their interest. By clicking on the flag that symbolizes a high importance, or creating files, theme, folder, or by importance. From this point of view, the mall has a definite asset. Although classified and easy to find, it can be a real list, and a database.
2. Cleaning up as and so as not to overload his mailbox and duty in the emergency delete messages surplus "with a machete. To save time, you can introduce filters that automatically redirect such unwelcome emails to the trash. Or select the messages by keyword to classify them in a folder. But be careful in this case not to lose sight of your overall messaging.Remove or archive emails as and also allows you to more easily find an important message.
3. Do not plug your mail to you, if your work permits. "The manager should set as a rule not to seek a collaborator with him," said Romain Chevallet. Especially since many employees, under pressure from management or a strong competition among colleagues, are needed to respond as quickly as possible, even to jeopardize their privacy.
4. Log out regularly. "In England, some companies have introduced a day without e-mail Wednesday," notes Roman Chevallet. Without going that far, it may be useful in order not to lose concentration, to force himself not to look at his mail every five minutes.Periods of disconnection from 1 to 2 hours can boost your productivity, provided that your manager is willing to wait this time to receive a response.
ALSO READ:
"Internet in the office: what is allowed and what is not
'Employees increasingly monitored