Whether you're the CEO, a middle manager or just starting your career, you are very likely drowning in email. On average, you devote 28% of your work week to emails.

The necessity of remote work amid the resurgence of Covid-19 has only increased the email burden. During the pandemic, internal work emails are up by around 5 percent. For companies trying to attract and retain talent, email culture is a good place to start.

According to survey by Wakefield Research in March 2021, more than 33% of U.S. office workers cite “email fatigue” as a reason to quit a job.

Without an action plan to measure and manage email communication, you are likely to see a rise in worker dissatisfaction and disengagement. But, wIth advanced email analytics, you can ensure that your organization is using email efficiently, and drive both efficiency and employee satisfaction.

Measure the average email response time across the company, within teams, and for internal and external emails. You can also pinpoint the number of emails flowing through your organization, the number of emails sent and received per person, and other key metrics that reveal how (and where) teams are communicating and collaborating.

It helps to know why one department might be flooded with external emails, while another is less inundated. Only when you measure the quantity of your email, can you see if it is used appropriately.

Compare our quantity analysis to quality benchmarks. Then we can help you institute changes that eliminate communication overload.  For instance, we can look at when it might be suitable for certain teams to batch their email tasks together instead of constantly interrupting their day to answer emails.

Email takes time

According to HBR, people check their email every 37 minutes, 15 times per day. Checking email that often destroys focus. It can take people 23 minutes to refocus on a task after being interrupted.

For internal communication, we recommend that emails should be answered no sooner than 90 minutes after receiving them, but no later than four hours. Why? This window gives people adequate time to focus on actual big picture planning and strategy. In other words, real work.  

There is a lot to look at — email networks, how frequently people are cc’d and bcc’d, external vs. internal emails, and more. Measuring and analyzing collaboration networks is crucial, but acting on it is another. Doing so can be a difference-maker in talent retention in an era that has been dubbed “The Great Resignation.”

I can’t help you with your homework, I just received an important work email

No one wants a longer work day. And yet, remote and hybrid settings are causing many of us to work all the time. The average workday increased by 48.5 minutes during the pandemic, partly due to more emails being sent after business hours.

Emailing for work outside of company hours harms family relations, and both physical and mental well being, according to a large (and ever-expanding) body of research. But with people working in different time zones, and others preferring to tailor their work schedule to fit their lifestyle, it can feel like after-hours email is a necessary evil.

Time is Ltd. can help. Seeing, understanding, and optimizing the patterns of organizational communication leads to better work, better policies, and happier employees.

Employees who feel you care about them and their time are not only more productive, they are more loyal, studies show. Measuring and reducing the email burden is an important step in boosting employee satisfaction. There have been many hopeful declarations of “the end of email,” but that’s not happening any time soon, and companies need to adapt accordingly.

Reach out to us to find out more about how you can turn your email and other communication practices into a win-win for productivity and engagement by measuring and coaching.

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