No Email Fridays

Email is a great productivity tool, right? Wrong! Email use is out of control. Employee relationships are breaking down because co-workers are avoiding face to face conversations and even phone conversations. They're hiding behind email.

The more email you send, the more you get. Employees everywhere are reporting that they are spending two hours per day dealing with email. Managers at one company in Liverpool, England estimates that its 6,000 employees send each other 40,000 messages a day.

Here are just a few of the negative consequences when co-workers send email instead of talking to one another:

-There is increased gossip and mistrust.

-Issues are not addressed and resolved quickly.

-Silos are formed creating an "us vs. them" work environment.

-Co-worker empathy decreases because employees are simply not getting to know each other.

-There is frequent miscommunication and misunderstanding.

Business leaders all over the world are concerned about email over-use and abuse and are taking a stand. "Never on Friday" is becoming a common theme where all internal email is banned every Friday.

You can establish a "no email" policy one day a week, even if your company doesn't establish an email ban.

-Meet with your co-workers face to face.

-Pick up the phone and call someone--a customer, co-worker or vendor.

-Get up and walk to another department to chat with members of the team with whom you deal.

-In sales? Get out to the field and meet with your customers.

Ironically, one executive sent an email to employees announcing the Friday email ban. He said he looked forward to not hearing from his employees but encouraged them to "stop by as often as they like!"

You could take the idea a step farther by introducing other "no technology" days such as no cell phones on Monday, no PDAs on Tuesday, no web surfing on Wednesdays and no memos on Thursday.

Imagine...people might actually start talking to each other again!

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Debra J. Schmidt, a.k.a. "The Loyalty Leader"®, helps companies boost their profits by leading them to greater customer, employee and brand loyalty. You can subscribe to Debra's free email newsletter packed with loyalty tips at: www.TheLoyaltyLeader.com

For more ideas on workplace manners, etiquette and building positive co-worker relationships, check out these special reports:

#3 "Workplace Dynamics: Co-Workers--Cooperation Builds Success"

#7 "Do's and Don'ts of Workplace Communications"#10 "How to Pave Your Road to Success With a Positive Attitude"

#14 "Email Etiquette for Business"

#15 "How to Plan and Facilitate Productive Meetings"

All are available at: http://www.theloyaltyleader.com/special-reports.html