Is Email Ruining Your Life?

E-mail on the move adds to workers' stress level

We can spend up to half our working day going through our inbox, leaving us tired, frustrated and unproductive.

A recent study found one-third of office workers suffer from e-mail stress.

And it is expensive, too. One London firm recently estimated that dealing with pointless e-mails cost it £39m a year.

Now firms are being forced to help staff deal with the daily avalanche in their inboxes. Some hire e-mail consultants, while others are experimenting with e-mail free days.

Email has changed the way that we communicate changed the way we worked.

This technology also has its downside. It's too easy to write an e-mail and hit the send button.

And when an e-mail goes wrong, it can be around the world in 80 seconds and headline news the next day.

On average, we spend 52 hours a year just dealing with our junk mail.

Additionally, e-mail is a major source of employee anxiety.

E-mail inboxes are causing employees concern, because of the number of e-mails and the poorly written e-mails. They really want to find some sort of solutions for these problems.

We are 24/7, we are interfaced by the mobile phone, by Blackberrys, by e-mails, by a whole range of technologies, so that we are almost on call all the time.

City accountancy firm Deloitte found its employees had a problem with e-mail overload. So it came up with a radical solution.

"A lot of people complain they get too much e-mail, that they're swamped with it, a lot of the messages they receive are unwanted, unnecessary targeted to the wrong people," says Mary Hensher, who heads Deloitte's IT department.

"We all tried to see if we could avoid sending internal e-mail on a Wednesday. Now the first thing that happened was it got everybody talking.

"Everybody started to think about what they were sending, who they were sending it to and whether they could use another method instead of sending the e-mail. So it had a very good immediate response, where people were actually thinking more about what they were doing."

E-mail is so ingrained in our working lives that Deloitte's experiment was abandoned after only a month. But the company still thinks it was worth it.

"Although the e-mail free day is not an e-mail free day any more, the actual amount of internal email circulating has dropped, because people are more conscious of what they're sending," Ms Hensher says.

Top tips

One man that might have the answer to all the problems surrounding e-mail is Tom Jackson.

He has spent the last nine years researching and developing better e-mail practice and has five tips he believes can help you take control of your inbox:

• Invest in a spam filter. You shouldn't open a spam e-mail, because as soon as you open the e-mail up, it notifies the organisation that has sent that, saying this is a valid e-mail address. They know how long you've looked at it, when you looked at it and did you go back to it.
• Target your e-mail. One of most annoying things about e-mail is the sheer number of messages we receive that aren't addressed primarily to us. Does everyone in the cc box really need to be copied in on your words of wisdom? Basically, a cc is there for information purposes only, and you should only use it for that purpose.
• Write more carefully. The reason to write carefully is crystal clear. It just vastly increases the chance that whatever it is you want to get done will get done. If you don't write carefully, there's room for misunderstanding.
• Reduce interruptions. I think it does start to stress people out. Simply by changing the way they have their e-mail application set up, they can start to reduce some of that stress.
• Get training. E-mail seems like common sense. Anyone can write an e-mail. But the issues we're having are that many people are struggling with e-mail communication - and training can really help with that.

Simon Turner

Body Language: Giving Good & Bad Messages

Much is made of using body language to project strength and competence in the workplace, but as any FBI profiler will tell you, nonverbal cues are an indicator of larger underlying truths that shouldn’t be swept under the rug.

Given our sometimes brief workplace interactions, nonverbal communication plays very large role in our communications.

Meetings, presentations and hallway encounters offer precious little time to present yourself, but trying to mask your deficiencies with hand gestures, eye contact or a well-timed touch on the arm is like taking Panadol not bothering to think about the reason behind your pain. Plus, you also risk coming off as inauthentic. Here are some things to look out for:

Poor eye contact: Wandering eyes suggest you may have something to hide. If you have trouble being forthright with a teammate or manager, you have to ask, “Am I representing myself honestly, or is this job a stretch for me?” (Either in terms of qualifications or interest.)

Not smiling: When you aren’t smiling very often, there’s a good chance that you aren’t at ease. Do you have enough passion for the job you are doing that you feel a connection with your coworkers? Is your manager making any effort to make you comfortable? What might that say about your working relationship?

Slouching: When people are excited to meet someone or to make their point, they generally stand or sit up straight or even lean forward. If you regularly aren’t energetic or confident when in a meeting or presentation, you should be wondering, “Have I chosen a job that is something that I’m excited to get up and do most days? Is this person (or company) for whom I’m working someone I really respect?”

Simon Turner

Student Gems: Don't Get Wrecked by HECS

Student Gems matches students in need of work with businesses in need of occasional or one-time help.

Student Gems is open to UK students or recent graduates 18 and older. To register, students begin by creating a profile that lists all their skills, including anything from language translation or website design to any of 1,400 other skills categorized on the site. Businesses or individuals in need of help can then search the database for someone who has the skills they require for a one-off or occasional job; if they can’t find a match immediately, they can post their job requirements. Students can also browse through tasks listed by businesses seeking someone with a particular talent and initiate contact themselves.

Ad-supported Student Gems is free for use by both businesses and students; by mid-January, more than 1,000 students and 100 businesses had registered with the site, including a software house, a chartered accountant, a media company and even a firm of funeral directors. Cofounder Joanna Ward explains: “Most small businesses cannot afford to take on professional staff for small tasks. Studentgems.com allows them to find someone quickly and easily and negotiate a price that suits their budget.”

Given skyrocketing levels of student debt and a tough employment landscape, this just could do the trick both for students and for smaller businesses. One to bring to other parts of the world?

Website: www.studentgems.com

Zero tolerance: Drinking in the Workplace

A recent case serves as a warning to all employees to be aware of “zero tolerance” policies that apply at their place of work and ensure their conduct does not contravene those policies. In May 2007, Woolworths dismissed one of its store managers for drinking two beers during his lunch break. The store manager, who had over 20 years of service with Woolworths was dismissed because the consumption of alcohol during working hours (including meal breaks) was strictly prohibited and was expressed in several company policies as well as the manager’s employment contract. Woolworths’ decision to terminate the employee’s employment was upheld by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) in October 2007 and the application was dismissed. Woolworths’ decision to terminate was further upheld by a full bench of the AIRC on appeal in February 2008.

Does the punishment of dismissal really fit the “crime” in this instance? If you are generally an exemplary employee, in a position of seniority and have been in a position for several years, should one slight break of the rules cost you your job? In this case, the AIRC upheld the dismissal and found that it was not harsh, unjust or unreasonable because the manager had breached an express term and condition of his employment contract. This strict approach suggests that a wilful disregard of zero tolerance policies will not be viewed lightly by the courts. This decision further highlights the fact that employers are entitled to take appropriate disciplinary action when their employees are found to have breached express terms and conditions of employment.

Selak v Woolworths Limited [2008] AIRCFB 81 (8 February, 2008)

Simon Turner simon@marquetteturner.com.au

The 10 Worst Days For Driving

Regardless of where you live, what you do or how old you are, this survey is worth a read!

Sunday is the least common day for car accidents and the most dangerous day to be on the road is Friday, 18 January.

After analysing 1.8 million claims received over the past 15 years, a leading insurer has identified the days when accidents are most likely to occur.

Historically, more accidents happen on 18 January than any other date in the year, while Friday is the most common day of the week for crashes. Unsurprisingly, the date with the least reported incidents is 29 February.

'Long week'
According to the research, the next safest dates are 25 and 26 December, when the roads tend to be very quiet. For the same reason, the report highlights Sunday as the days of the week when accidents are least likely to occur, followed by Saturday. The vast majority of problems happen on weekdays when the roads are busier.

TEN WORST DAYS FOR DRIVING
1. 18 January
2. 20 December
3. 27 October
4. 22 March
5. 20 July
6. 1 October
7. 21 October
8. 1 November
9. 15 December
10. 20 October

It's not surprising to see that the worst day of the week for accidents is a Friday: people are tired after a long week at work and can easily get caught up thinking about their weekend plans instead of the road ahead.

It is less clear, however, why there was such a concentration of incidents on 18 January: it could be that people have a lot on their mind as they haven't been paid for a while, the bills are coming in, and the fun of the festive period is a long and distant memory.

How did you fare on 29 February this year, given that 2008 is a leap year?

The Five Minds of a Manager

Does your management job seem impossible? If so, that's not surprising. Your many roles are so often contradictory.

You can, however, triumph over managerial obstacles, despite conflicting expectations, if you focus less on what you should do and more on how you should think. Successful managers think their way through their jobs, using five different mind-sets that allow them to deal adeptly with the world around them:

1) A reflective mind-set allows you to be thoughtful, to see familiar experiences in a new light, setting the stage for insights and innovative products and services.

2) An analytical mind-set ensures that you make decisions based on in-depth data--both quantitative and qualitative.

3) A worldly mind-set provides you with cultural and social insights essential to operating in diverse regions, serving varied customer segments.

4) A collaborative mind-set enables you to orchestrate relationships among individuals and teams producing your products and services.

5) An action mind-set energizes you to create and expedite the best plans for achieving your strategic goals.

The key to your managerial effectiveness? Regularly access all five mind-sets, not in any particular order, but by cycling through each as needed. And don't go it alone. When you collaborate with colleagues by interweaving your collective mind-sets, you--and your organization--will excel.

How to Archive Your Instant Messanger Chats

If you rely heavily on instant messaging for business communications, you’ve probably wished for a way to store conversations for future reference. Simkl archives instant messages to an online server and lets you search and share them.



This “history saver” works with virtually all IM clients, from AIM to MSN to Yahoo Messenger. Savvy users know that IM aggregators like Pidgin and Trillian already let you save conversations, but they’re stored locally; you can’t access them from the Web like with Simkl. Check the video above to see it in action.

Unfortunately, you’ll have to pony up a few bucks to use the service: Simkl charges $24.99 annually or $2.99 per month. Those are reasonable rates, especially if you ever need an IM “paper trail” for legal reasons. [via Download Squad]

How to Improve Your Time Management

Feel like time is your adversary rather than your ally? Maybe you need to get a little better at managing the sucker. Dumb Little Man offers 11 tips for improving time-management, including these little gems:

1) Concentrate on One Thing: The human mind works more efficiently when it is focused. As we’ve seen before multitasking is actually a disadvantage to productivity. Focus on one thing and get it done. Take care not to bleed tasks into each other. At times, multitasking may seem like a more efficient route, but it is probably not.

2) Avoid Procrastination at All Costs: When trying to be more productive and trying to save time, procrastination should be avoided like nothing else. It is the ultimate productivity-killer.

3) Set Personal Deadlines: Nobody likes deadlines. They cause stress, aggravation, worry, and, more stress. A guaranteed way to alleviate some of this stress is to set your own earlier deadlines. Be realistic but demanding of yourself. Challenge yourself and reward yourself for a meeting a difficult challenge.

What methods do you use to manage your time? I’m still a fan of the "to-do list". I make a list of three or four things I must get done each day. It doesn’t seem overwhelming, and I get great satisfaction from crossing them off.

Simon Turner simon@marquetteturner.com.au