Workers mired in e-mail wasteland

Employees waste nearly an hour a day managing work e-mails,
according to a new survey.

The survey, released Thursday by research firm Gartner, said workers spend
an average of 49 minutes per day managing e-mail and that 24 percent spend
more than an hour per day on this task.

Maurene Caplan Grey, a senior analyst for Gartner, said although employees
are writing their co-workers at a higher rate to be more helpful or
communicative, the constant load of e-mails can end up backfiring.

"In reality, (employees) are cluttering e-mail in-boxes, filling up
servers, and sapping productivity with the volume of these messages," Grey
said in a statement. "In a slowing economy, where businesses are looking
for ways to cut costs and increase productivity, simply cutting out
unnecessary e-mail will have an immediate impact."

The survey, which asked workers about their e-mail and instant messaging
habits, found that 34 percent of the internal business e-mail they receive
is unnecessary. The survey also said that only 27 percent of the e-mail
that workers receive demands their immediate attention.

Gartner recommended that managers train employees to use e-mail more
efficiently, including using distribution lists with caution by sending
e-mail to only those who need the information or avoid sending needless
responses, such as "I'm with you 100 percent" or "Glad to be of help."
Gartner also said chat rooms, bulletin boards and instant messaging can
prove to be more efficient than e-mail when employees are working in teams.